Nationals Prospect Weekly: Cayden Wallace Mashes at Rochester, Hacopian Hits His First
By Marcus Bailey ·
Nationals Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Nationals farm system.
Cayden Wallace Is Making Triple-A Look Ordinary
Cayden Wallace (AAA, 3B, Rank: 38) went 10-for-25 with two home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, and four walks across his Triple-A games this week, including a solo shot in an 8-7 Rochester win over Omaha. These numbers attract attention at any level, and at 25 years old, Wallace has been delivering them with increasing frequency. His last-30-day line at Rochester reads .313/.364/.566 with five home runs and eight doubles over 107 plate appearances, production that sits well ahead of the second-division ceiling his scouting profile carries. Combined across Double-A and Triple-A this season, he is slashing .294/.345/.536 with 25 home runs, 24 doubles, and 76 RBI in 482 plate appearances, easily his most productive professional campaign.
The context here matters because Wallace spent all of 2025 grinding through Double-A with a .242/.310/.376 line, 10 home runs, and enough strikeout trouble to generate real doubt about whether the bat would hold. What 2026 has shown is a player who addressed the power question directly: the hit tool grades at 45 and the power at 40, but 25 home runs across two levels by late August show the raw pop has found more consistent game expression. His swing rate of 55.7 percent is aggressive and has been a consistent trait throughout his career, and the contact rate of 76.3 percent is solid enough that the aggression plays rather than bleeds. The walk rate has been modest at 7.1 percent this season, down slightly from 2025, but the production has compensated. The arm grades at 55, the defense is reliable at the hot corner, and the complete package right now looks more like a second-division regular with legitimate offensive contributions than the limited depth piece his projection suggested eight months ago. Rochester and Washington are a short drive apart.
Hacopian's First Homer Announces His Arrival at Wilmington
Chris Hacopian (A+, 2B, Rank: 2) made his professional debut feel official this week, going 4-for-10 with a home run, two walks, and just one strikeout over 10 plate appearances at Wilmington. The homer was his first as a professional, and MLB spotlighted it as a notable moment from the Nationals' top 2026 draft pick. The sample is small, but the process behind it lines up with what made him a first-round selection: a contact bat with a 60 hit tool, measured swing decisions, and enough raw pop to put the ball over the fence when pitchers leave something in the middle of the zone. His 16.7 percent walk rate and matching 16.7 percent strikeout rate over 48 plate appearances at Wilmington show that the discipline that drove his college production has carried over immediately to pro ball.
Hacopian's game is built around advanced barrel feel and consistent timing rather than loud tools across the board. The speed grades at 40, the arm at 45, and his defensive ceiling at second base is probably fringe-average, which puts the pressure squarely on the bat to carry his profile toward an everyday role. So far it has. His contact rate of 83.1 percent over the last 30 days, combined with a swing rate of 41.8 percent, suggests he is being selective rather than passive, getting to his pitches rather than chasing. For a player one week into full-season ball, such a contact-to-swing ratio is genuinely encouraging. The power grades at 50 and figures to develop further as he adds strength and learns to lift more consistently. I would bet on him moving fast; contact bats with this level of polish at High-A in their first professional weeks tend to get challenged upward in a hurry.
Quick Hits
Miguel Sime Jr. (A+, RHP, Rank: 20) · threw 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit and no runs while striking out six and generating 19 swinging misses against 15 batters faced at Wilmington. The stuff is genuinely special: a four-seamer that sits 97-101 mph grades at 70, and over his last five starts at High-A he carries a 1.40 ERA across 19.1 innings with a 45.6 percent strikeout rate against batters faced. The 38.8 percent walk rate against batters in that stretch is the catch, and it is a real one, because a command grade of 35 means the profile can drift quickly if the delivery gets loose. His season ERA of 2.15 at Wilmington stands out, but with a 19.9 percent walk rate per batter faced, the floor is genuinely noisy. The ceiling here is a mid-rotation arm; the most likely outcome, per his projection, is a power reliever if the strike-throwing does not come around.
Devin Fitz-Gerald (AA, SS, Rank: 16) · drove in eight runs on 10 hits in 28 plate appearances at Harrisburg, with a homer and three doubles in the mix. Over his last 30 days at Double-A, he is slashing .328/.410/.522 with three home runs in 78 plate appearances, a sharp turnaround from his season-long AA line of .237/.312/.333. The promotion to Harrisburg was a genuine challenge for Fitz-Gerald; his High-A numbers this year were .267/.373/.530 with 12 home runs, and the Double-A contact rate initially took a hit as the strikeout rate climbed to 26.8 percent for the season. The recent form suggests he is starting to make the adjustment. He is a 50 hit, 50 power switch-hitter with a plus makeup grade, projecting as an up-down second baseman, and weeks like this one give that trajectory some real credibility.
Riley Cornelio (AAA, RHP, Rank: 33) · delivered 4.0 innings of two-hit, scoreless ball with eight strikeouts and one walk against Rochester competition, generating 14 swinging misses on 59 pitches. He has now posted a 0.61 ERA over his last 30 days at Triple-A, covering 14.2 innings with 26 strikeouts and just seven walks in eight appearances. The fastball sits 94-98 with a 55-grade slider that has become his primary swing-and-miss weapon, and in short relief stints the combination is genuinely difficult. His season MLB numbers remain rough at a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings, but the Triple-A form of late has been as good as any arm in the system. At 26, with a 45 command grade and walks still an issue, the ceiling is a middle-relief role; the question now is whether a month like this earns him another big-league look.
Josh Hartle (AA, LHP, Rank: 34) · struck out seven and allowed no runs in 3.2 innings at Harrisburg, scattering three hits while walking four. The ERA sits at 1.83 across four Double-A starts since his assignment to Harrisburg, with 20 strikeouts in 19.1 innings over that stretch. Hartle was among the more productive arms in the Cleveland system last year with a 2.35 ERA at High-A, and the results at Harrisburg suggest the transition has gone smoothly. He is a four-pitch left-hander who projects as a back-end starter, and his 55-grade changeup is the carrying secondary. The walk totals in this particular outing were elevated, but they have been manageable over the broader sample.
Andry Lara (AAA, RHP, Rank: 43) · went 5.1 innings against Triple-A hitters, giving up two hits and no runs while striking out six on 73 pitches. His season ERA at Rochester is 5.35 across 102.2 innings, a number that reflects a year in which the secondary pitches and command have been inconsistent. The projection has moved toward an up-down or relief role given the regression from his pre-2025 form, but a zero-run outing over five-plus innings is still a useful data point. His fastball grades at 55, sitting 94-96, and when the delivery syncs the ground-ball tendencies re-emerge.
Alex Clemmey (AA, LHP, Rank: 17) · allowed one earned run over five innings at Harrisburg with six strikeouts, one walk, and 11 swinging misses. The outing was his best in a difficult recent stretch: over his last 30 days, Clemmey carries an 8.35 ERA across 18.1 innings at Double-A with six home runs allowed, a brutal run that has pushed his season ERA to 4.69. The stuff is still there, with a 60-grade fastball that reaches 99 and a curveball and slider both grading at 55, but his 40-grade command and persistent strike-throwing inconsistency are what has driven the season's volatility. There is a legitimate #4 starter projection attached to this profile if those issues improve; right now the walk totals and home run rate are getting in the way.
Luis Perales (MLB, RHP, Rank: 13) · was recalled from Rochester and made his big-league debut this week, going 2.0 innings with three strikeouts and three walks in his first MLB appearance. The debut ERA of 18.00 over two innings reflects a rough first look, though short MLB outings at this level can be volatile. He had been among the more productive rotation arms in Triple-A all season, posting a 3.64 ERA across 96.1 innings with 97 strikeouts at Rochester. The call-up is a meaningful milestone, and the underlying Triple-A track record gives reason to believe the big-league numbers will stabilize with more opportunities.
Yeremy Cabrera (A+, CF, Rank: 23) · went 5-for-22 with a triple, a homer, and four walks in 22 plate appearances at Wilmington. He has 30 steals on the season between Low-A and High-A combined, and the 60-grade speed and 60-grade glove in center remain the reasons to follow his development even as the bat has been inconsistent. His season line at High-A sits at .221/.301/.315, with a 28.0 percent strikeout rate per plate appearance reflecting real contact volatility. A week like this one, with four walks and some extra-base damage, is the version of Cabrera that plays as a meaningful bench piece or fourth outfielder.
Eriq Swan (AA, RHP, Rank: 27) · returned from the injured list and threw one scoreless inning with a strikeout at Harrisburg in his first appearance since activation. He had been out since April 19 on the 7-day IL, so the return itself is the news. His season at High-A showed a 5.71 ERA with some walk-rate concerns, and the three Double-A outings prior to the IL placement yielded a 4.50 ERA. One clean inning back is a start.
Isaac Lyon (AAA, RHP, Rank: 53) · made his Triple-A debut after being promoted from Harrisburg, working 3.2 innings and allowing two earned runs on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The jump from Double-A to Triple-A was always going to carry some adjustment; his AA ERA of 3.79 across 73.2 innings this year was built largely on the sinker playing well in the zone, and Rochester hitters will test whether the low-90s velocity holds up. He projects as a long reliever or up-down depth arm, and this first look was about what you would expect.