Nationals Prospect Weekly: Jacob Walsh's Power Surge, Tejeda Jr. Shuts Down Double-A
By Marcus Bailey ·
Nationals Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Nationals farm system.
Jacob Walsh Redlines at Wilmington
Jacob Walsh (A+, 1B, Rank: 53) went 6-for-22 with three home runs, two doubles, and nine RBI across his Wilmington games this week, a line that would stand out at any level and is particularly loud from a 23-year-old first baseman who spent most of last summer struggling through Low-A. The nine RBI alone made him the most productive hitter in the system by a wide margin, and his last-30-day numbers put the week in context: a .341/.381/.747 line over 97 plate appearances at High-A with nine home runs and 10 doubles, 29 RBI in a single month. Those are not gap-hunting numbers; the damage is real and repetitive. For the season across both levels, Walsh is slashing .267/.354/.532 with 25 home runs, 24 doubles, and 84 RBI in 448 plate appearances, a significant leap from the .128/.258/.192 he posted during a rough 22-game debut at Fredericksburg in 2025.
The profile was always power-first: a 60 raw grade sits at the top of his scouting card alongside a 45 hit and a 45 contact projection, and nothing about the approach here suggests he has suddenly become selective. His season strikeout rate of 30.4 percent and a 32.9 percent mark at Wilmington show the swing-and-miss is real, and his contact rate of 66.3 percent is well below average. But the 60 power has been cashing out in a way that makes those contact concerns secondary right now. The nine strikeouts this week alongside the three home runs demonstrate how the profile cuts: pitchers who miss their spot pay in a hurry, and pitchers who locate get plenty of whiffs in return. The question for the next level is how advanced arms sequence him with quality spin away, and whether the contact rate can hold enough to keep the power production meaningful. What Walsh is doing at Wilmington in August and September, though, reflects what the 60 power grade looks like when it shows up to work.
Tejeda Jr. Flips the Script in Harrisburg
Yoel Tejeda Jr. (AA, RHP, Rank: 31) went five innings at Harrisburg this week, allowing just one hit and no earned runs while striking out eight and generating 16 swinging misses against 17 batters faced. He threw 38 of 61 pitches for strikes, a command display that has been elusive across most of his Double-A work this year. The season ERA at the Double-A level sits at 7.31 over 32 innings, so this outing was an outlier in terms of finish, but the underlying tools have always been visible in the strikeout rates: the fastball sits 94-96 mph and grades at 50, the slider at 55 is a genuine swing-and-miss weapon in the low 80s, and the whiff rate over the full season at 30.2 percent has remained consistent regardless of the run-prevention results. Those 16 swinging misses in five innings show how dominant the combination can be when his release point holds.
The durability of this start matters beyond the box score. Tejeda's 2026 season has been a study in command fragility: the walk rates at Double-A have climbed, the pitch efficiency has suffered, and the ERA has ballooned against better lineups despite the strikeouts staying up. His delivery out of a large frame creates timing demands that the combined stats reflect plainly. The projection leans toward a long reliever or up-down fifth starter, and this outing fits the argument that shorter, more focused stints could let the stuff operate closer to its ceiling. A five-inning, one-hit shutdown with 16 whiffs is not a solved problem, but it is a clear reminder of what the fastball-slider combination looks like when everything is on time. Tejeda has made 24 starts this year across High-A and Double-A; if the season ends with more outings like this one, there will be a real conversation about whether a bullpen role accelerates his path.
Quick Hits
- Cayden Wallace (AAA, 3B, Rank: 41) · drove in five runs on nine hits, including three home runs and a double, over 25 plate appearances at Rochester this week. He is now hitting .350/.404/.680 over his last 30 days at Triple-A with eight home runs in 109 plate appearances, and his combined line across both levels this season reads .299/.350/.551 with 28 home runs. The 45 hit and 50 power grades on his scouting card have been noticeably conservative against the results he is posting.
- Caleb Lomavita (AA, C, Rank: 26) · had a short but productive week, going 5-for-13 with two home runs and five RBI at Harrisburg in 13 plate appearances. He sits at 14 home runs and 51 RBI on the season at Double-A, posting a .453 season average in home runs per plate appearance that maintains the 50 power grade looking accurate. The 55 arm and athleticism behind the dish remain his best tools, and the pop has been a consistent secondary weapon all year.
- Ronny Cruz (A+, SS, Rank: 17) · posted a disciplined week at Wilmington: six hits in 27 plate appearances with three doubles, a home run, and six walks against just one strikeout. Over his last 30 days at High-A, his strikeout rate has dropped to 16.0 percent against a 11.3 percent walk rate, a combination that looks much more controlled than the full-season averages suggest. Cruz has 52 stolen bases combined across levels this season, and the 55 speed and 55 arm remain the clearest present carrying tools in a profile built for the middle of the infield.
- Eli Willits (A+, SS, Rank: 1) · went 6-for-22 with three doubles, a triple, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch at Wilmington, though seven strikeouts crept into the line. The 60 hit tool and 60 speed grade are both well-supported by what he has done across two levels this season: a .262/.405/.454 combined slash with 60 stolen bases and a 17.8 percent walk rate in 517 plate appearances as an 18-year-old. The strikeouts this week are a minor footnote in a season that looks like what a perennial all-star projection is supposed to look like at Low-A and High-A.
- Sam Brown (AA, 1B, Rank: 51) · went deep twice and added a double in 13 plate appearances at Harrisburg, driving in four on three hits while walking four times. Over the last 30 days, he is slashing .292/.368/.646 with four home runs and five doubles in 57 plate appearances, a stretch that sits well ahead of his season line. Brown's ceiling is organizational depth given the 40 power grade and corner-only fit, but a 13.6 percent season walk rate and this recent form keep the profile from being ignored entirely.
- Yohandy Morales (MLB, 1B, Rank: 21) · had his contract selected by Washington on September 1, arriving with a .286/.363/.519 line and 25 home runs in 455 Triple-A plate appearances. He went 5-for-11 with a homer in his first 11 major league plate appearances. The promotion was the headlining transaction of the week for the system, and his Rochester production has been the most complete offensive performance in the affiliate all season.
- Riley Cornelio (MLB, RHP, Rank: 33) · was recalled by Washington on September 2, adding another arm from a Rochester rotation that carried a 3.68 ERA over 66 innings and 103 strikeouts this season. His major league ERA sits at 5.96 in 22.2 innings across 12 appearances, so the gap between Triple-A and the big league level has been real, but the September roster expansion makes him a useful arm to have available.
- Devin Fitz-Gerald (AA, SS, Rank: 5) · had a rough week at Harrisburg: 5-for-26 with a double and a home run, but just one walk against three strikeouts in 26 plate appearances. Over the last 30 days he is actually hitting .321/.392/.524 at Double-A with four home runs in 97 plate appearances, so the week was more of a noise event inside a genuinely solid recent stretch. The Double-A season line of .234/.304/.338 in 257 plate appearances remains a concern relative to what the 50 hit and 50 power grades project, and his strikeout rate at the level has climbed to 25.3 percent compared to 17.7 percent at High-A earlier this year.
- Seaver King (AAA, SS, Rank: 4) · went 7-for-29 with two doubles and a home run at Rochester this week, a relatively modest showing after a stretch that had been one of the hotter runs in the system. He is still slashing .333/.403/.631 over the last 30 days at Triple-A with nine home runs in 124 plate appearances, and the season combined line of .313/.393/.535 with 19 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A represents his best professional campaign. One slower week does not move the needle on a strong year.
- Jarlin Susana (AA, RHP, Rank: 7) · had a bumpy outing this week: 2.2 innings, four hits, two earned runs, and six strikeouts against 14 batters faced. The 70-grade fastball and 65-grade slider are genuine weapons, with 12 swinging misses in that short outing showing the stuff is still present, but the command (40 grade) remains the constraint on what the results look like. His combined season ERA of 4.63 across five starts and 11.2 innings at two levels is a small sample, but his walk rates and the durability questions following surgery make each outing worth monitoring carefully.