The Nationals have taken highschool shortstop Eli Willits as the primary total collection of the 2025 draft. The 17-year-old Willits (a product of Fort Cobb-Broxton Excessive College in Oklahoma) is the youngest first total decide in draft historical past. Washington had the primary decide for the third time in franchise historical past, and Willits may have a troublesome act to comply with for the reason that Nats’ earlier two 1-1 alternatives had been Stephen Strasburg in 2009, and Bryce Harper in 2010.
There wasn’t a transparent consensus amongst draft pundits this yr, so a number of potential names had been floated for the Nationals within the high spot. One other sudden wrinkle emerged only a week in the past when the Nats fired longtime president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo (in addition to supervisor Dave Martinez), and assistant GM Mike DeBartolo was out of the blue answerable for the entrance workplace after being elevated to the interim common supervisor place. DeBartolo instructed MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and different reporters that Willits was “the man we needed all alongside,” so it doesn’t seem that the sudden administration change impacted the Nationals’ plans.
It’s actually potential that the decide was made with an eye fixed in direction of the Nats’ total draft pool, as Willits could possibly be extra apt to signal for lower than the $11,075,900 slot value for the primary total choice. A below-slot deal for Willits would release area inside Washington’s total bonus pool ($16,597,800) for the Nationals to unfold that cash round on different alternatives, maybe to entice some future picks later within the draft to signal slightly than pursue faculty ball.
Whereas Willits was a slight shock at 1-1, the shortstop (the son of former Angels outfielder Reggie Willits) was nonetheless a highly-regarded prospect. Baseball America and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel every rated Willits because the third-best member of this yr’s draft class, Fangraphs and MLB Pipeline every ranked him fifth, and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation had Willits eighth in his rankings.
Evaluators really feel Willits has a fairly excessive ground as a stable all-around expertise, along with his glorious velocity standing out as maybe his high device. Willits is considered as having the defensive potential to stay at shortstop, and he has a plus throwing arm and good vary for the place. A switch-hitter, Willits is already a robust contact hitter with method on the plate. Maybe the most important query is how a lot energy Willits will be capable to generate in opposition to Main League pitching, however McDaniel and BA imagine he can attain the 15-homer vary.
Willits doesn’t have the hype or celebrity ceiling of Strasburg or Harper, but the 17-year-old now fills the same position as one of many faces of a brand new period of Nationals baseball. The Nats haven’t had a successful season since capturing the 2019 World Collection, and the firings of Rizzo and Martinez point out how possession isn’t happy with the state of what has turn out to be a reasonably prolonged rebuild. Washington had the sixth-worst document (71-91) in baseball in 2024 however held the fourth-best odds heading into final December’s draft lottery, because the White Sox and A’s had been each ineligible to draft inside the high six.
