Yesterday afternoon, Prospects Live, a site dedicated to covering the minor leagues, MLB Draft, and dynasty fantasy baseball rankings, put out their prediction for how the Nationals roster would look in the year 2028. I wanted to break down some of their choices, as while I agree with many of their decisions, there are as many that leave me scratching my head. Keep in mind, they are attempting to predict the roster 3 seasons from now with 0 external additions, a futile task as there is bound to be free agency and trade additions, but there are still certain parts of the roster much more likely to go to an internal option than others.
Predicting Keibert Ruiz as the Nationals’ 2028 starting catcher is a questionable decision after the recent acquisition of Harry Ford, to say the least. While it is true Ruiz will still be under contract that season, making him likely to still be around the organization in some capacity, he’s shown very little to make anyone believe he can hold onto the starting catcher role for 3 more years, especially with Harry Ford being big league ready in 2026. The most logical explanation to me is they made their projections and the graphic before the trade went down and forgot to update, or perhaps Prospects Live still believes in a version of Keibert Ruiz we haven’t seen in many years.
I like the choice of Ethan Petry over Yohandy Morales and Andres Chapparo at first base in 2028, as my future outlook is higher on him than those 2 and any other internal first base options in the organization. This seems like a position likely to see a free agent signing or trade acquisition, whether that is this offseason or in a future one, but for the sake of this exercise, I like Petry as the future Nats first baseman.
I also like the choice of Luke Dickerson at second base over Seaver King, who is closer to the big leagues but doesn’t excite me the way Dickerson does with his great speed and power potential. I believe King could have a strong career as a utility man for the Nationals, filling in for starters across all sorts of spots on the diamond, but it’s hard for me to put him over anyone else on this roster at one singular spot. The absence of Luis Garcia Jr. is notable, as he will be a free agent after the 2027 season, and Prospects Live either doesn’t think he will be back in DC or just leaves impending free agents off as a rule.
Willits at shortstop was likely one of the easier calls on the list for them, as the only question I would think would be if they believe he can reach the big league level by his age 20 season. If they didn’t, King would likely be in his place on this graphic, but Willits would almost certainly be knocking on the door in 2029 in his age-21 season.
The choice of Daylen Lile and Dylan Crews in the corner outfield spots was probably easy enough for the people at Prospects Live, but the choice of CJ Abrams in centerfield in his age-28 season is an interesting one. While Abrams likely is speedy enough now to handle centerfield duties, he has also gone down in sprint speed percentile every year since he reached the big leagues, and I don’t expect that to stop as he gets older.
Abrams’ arm is also fringy already at shortstop, and would be one of the weaker centerfield arms in baseball if he made the transition. While I think it’s an idea worth exploring, it seems much more likely to me that Abrams makes the transition to second base rather than centerfield as he matures. Not on the graphic for some reason is James Wood, who they say slots in at DH for the Nationals in 2028, although I think they shouldn’t count him out as a fielder so soon.
In the rotation, Prospects Live sees Cade Cavalli as the ace of this ballclub in 3 years, with the younglings Travis Sykora, Jarlin Susana, and Alex Clemmey right behind him. The decision to slot Brad Lord over Luis Perales is a fascinating one, perhaps confirming my suspicion that these projections and graphics were made before the Ford and Perales trades went down. There is also the surprising absence of DJ Herz, who will only be 27 years old during the 2028 campaign and has shown more promise at the big league level than almost any Nats starter. Overall, I think they are mostly on the money with the top 4 of this rotation, with the question marks being if Cavalli and Clemmey can maintain themselves as starters or will become bullpen weapons.
The Nationals’ bullpen outlook in 2028 is extremely bleak, according to Prospects Live; however, that is also the area of the club that is most difficult to predict, as bullpens are constantly shuffling through arms and will see the addition of several failed starters on the Nats farm currently. Cole Henry as the closer makes sense, as he may be more likely than anyone to still be around 3 years from now, but I am not sure he quite has closer stuff.
Pablo Aldonis is a 23-year-old lefty who destroyed Low and High A hitters in 2025, and seems like just as good a bet on the Nats farm as any to be in their bullpen in 3 years. Poulin, who will be 32 in 2028 and was solid for the Nats in 2025, is an odd choice as a setup man, but he does have plenty of service time remaining, giving him a decent chance of still being around by then.
Overall, I think Prospects Live’s prediction for the 2028 Washington Nationals roster would be much more accurate if they had updated it with the additions of Harry Ford and Luis Perales, but overall, they did as good a job as you can do guessing how a team will look 3 years in the future with 0 external additions. As far as 3-year outlooks go, I believe this is the best looking future as the Nationals have had since the rebuild began, with a mix of current big league talent, young and promising hitters, and intriguing arms down on the farm.
