With under two weeks until the 2026 MLB Draft gets underway, it seems like the Washington Nationals have an idea about what type of player they would like to select at pick No. 11.
While two-way prep star Jared Grindlinger has been mentioned a lot in previous mock draft, some of the latest intel suggests that president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and his front office might actually prefer to take a college bat with their first-round selection. Names like Texas A&M’s Chris Hacopian, Alabama’s Justin Lebron and Kentucky’s Tyler Bell have all been mentioned. But is that actually who the Nationals should draft this year?
In the mind of ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, that is not the case.
Right-Handed Pitcher Liam Peterson Seen as Player Nationals Should Draft
“The Nats have been sneaky competitive this season and the new regime comes from Boston, where it was quite good at identifying pitchers it could optimize. Peterson has the size, arm speed and spin rates that I think fit these specs. A little more fastball command and he could take off,” he wrote.
It’s hard to argue with wanting Washington to draft another pitcher. While 10 of their top 30 prospects are pitchers, Travis Sykora and Alejandro Rosario are out recovering from Tommy John surgery, Jarlin Susana and Miguel Sime Jr. have relief risk, Luis Perales has a high ceiling but is coming back from his own Tommy John procedure, Jackson Kent could be a future reliever and many of their top arms are at the lower levels of their farm system.
Because of that, it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world to draft Peterson, a high-ceiling pitcher in his own right who has big-time stuff that needs to be reined in a bit.
Across three seasons at Florida, the righty finished with an ERA of 4.95 in 49 outings (46 starts). He struck out 283 batters over 216 1/3 innings pitched, which highlighted his electric stuff. But he also walked 108 and gave up 215 total hits, which was one of the reasons why he didn’t have an elite ERA.
Still, Peterson is a tantalizing prospect in this draft class for a reason. With a fastball that sits in the mid-90 mph range, it can also reach the upper-90s. He pairs that with a slider and 12-6 curveball for his breaking pitches, while he also utilizes a changeup. Considered to have the best pure stuff in this class, it would be hard for the Nationals to turn him down if he’s still available at pick No. 11.
If Washington does have the chance to draft the 21-year-old right-hander on July 11, it will be interesting to see what they decide to do.
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