The top guys in the Nationals 2024 draft class had a rocky season last year. Seaver King and Luke Dickerson were major disappointments, while Caleb Lomavita was fine, but nothing special. However, with a new player development team coming in, these guys have another chance to prove themselves and could reach new heights in their development.
Let’s start with King, who was drafted 10th overall in the 2024 class. In my opinion, this is probably going to be a pick that the Nationals regret due to some of the names they passed on. Bryce Rainer, Cam Smith and Trey Yesavage are among the notable names taken in the next 10 picks. However, I still believe King has a chance to be a useful big leaguer despite the .631 OPS he posted in his first full professional season.
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Seaver King is a tremendous athlete who can run like the wind and has strong secondary tools. He can play a number of positions, though he has settled in at shortstop in pro ball. King has actually done a nice job at shortstop and projects to be at least an average defender there.
There are offensive tools here as well. King has good raw power and bat to ball skills. However, his poor approach and ground ball heavy diet undercut a lot of these strengths. After a fantastic stint in the Arizona Fall League, where he tweaked his swing with the help of top prospect Kevin McGonigle, there is more hope for King heading into 2026.
However, this is a massive year for the former first rounder. King needs to prove he can hit high minors pitching and that his stint in the AFL was more than a flash in the pan. Hopefully the new regime can also help him cut down on the chase and ground balls. The offensive warts likely prevent Seaver King from being a star, but the new regime and the AFL give me more optimism. He should start next season back in AA.
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Coming into the 2025 season there was a ton of buzz around Luke Dickerson. The Nats made Dickerson the richest second round pick of all time when they paid him $3.8 million to buy out his UVA commitment.
Dickerson is another high end athlete with a ton of tools. He has big time power and speed. Dickerson has also shown a feel for hitting at times as well. Early in the season things were going well for him in rookie ball and early in his Low-A stint.
However, after being rushed back from a hand injury and also having some holes in his game exposed, Dickerson’s stats went downhill. He only hit .208 with a .641 OPS for the season. Obviously that is not good enough and things will need to pick up for the 20 year old.
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However, with a new development team there is still reason to hold out some hope here. Dickerson was not a full time baseball player until turning pro. He was a high level high school hockey player who spent his winters doing that. It makes sense why he would be on the raw side.
This is a big year for Dickerson though. There are a lot of young middle infielders in the system. If he does not perform next year, he will be passed by guys like Coy James, Angel Feliz and Marconi German. He has swing and miss in his game, but the strikeout rate is not totally out of control either, sitting just under 25% for the season. Dickerson also walked at a 12.5% clip last season. We will need to see his raw power translate into more home runs, but experience and further development should help with that.
He plays shortstop right now, but should move to either second base or the outfield. Right now, Luke Dickerson is very much a project. However, he is still a fairly exciting project despite the down year in 2025.
Out of the Nats top 3 picks in the 2025 draft, Caleb Lomavita put up the best numbers. He hit .275 with a .714 OPS across two levels. The athletic catcher makes a lot of loud contact, but like King, he hits the ball on the ground a lot.
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The .714 OPS may not sound overly impressive, but he played in a very pitcher friendly environment for most of the season. His OPS in High-A was .703, but his wRC+ was 112. In his 9 game sample in AA, Lomavita actually hit the ground running, hitting .273 with an .836 OPS. He also hit two homers in AA, compared to only hitting 4 in 99 High-A games.
Lomavita is another guy who the development team will be trying to unlock more power from. The raw exit velocity data is there for him, but that has not translated to over the fence power.
As a catcher, defense is even more important than the bat. Right now that is a mixed bag for Lomavita. He has the tools to be a good catcher and has a big arm, but the consistency leaves a lot to be desired. Lomavita made 21 errors behind the plate last year. For him to stick at the position, that simply has to get a lot better.
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By all accounts, he has the leadership skills teams love from their catchers. However, there is a lot of refinement that is still needed. Like all of these guys, there is an intriguing tool kit here, but there are still a lot of big holes.
The big question for all of these guys is how much will this new regime be able to help them. Are these three players just a tweak away from breaking out or were they just bad evaluations from the previous regime? 2026 will be the year where we get a much clearer idea of the answer to that question.