After franchise upheaval, Nationals make Eli Willits the No. 1 pick

After franchise upheaval, Nationals make Eli Willits the No. 1 pick

For the Washington Nationals, the MLB draft arrived Sunday just days after a midseason moment of institutional disruption, chaos and change. Mike Rizzo, the general manager who oversaw Washington’s draft process for almost two decades, had been dismissed a week earlier and replaced by interim GM Mike DeBartolo. In this environment, Washington’s draft group, led by second-year scouting director Danny Haas, had to navigate a class that had little consensus over who would (or should) go No. 1.

At the end of it all, Eli Willits, a high school shortstop from Oklahoma, got the call. Washington will task the 17-year-old with stimulating a farm system that could use a premier bat. With the selection, Willits became the third-youngest No. 1 pick in MLB history.

DeBartolo said Willits was the Nationals’ top choice throughout the process, but he declined to dive into negotiations or specify when the team decided to select him.

“One of those nice things where the scouts and the analysts see things exactly the same way,” DeBartolo said. “[We] saw him as the best hitter in the draft, the best fielder in the draft with just great makeup, great work ethic and all the intangibles.”

“Very rarely do you get a chance to get what we think is the best hitter in the draft and the best defensive shortstop in the draft,” Haas said.

“I think he’s right,” Willits said when asked about that assessment.

Willits is the youngest true prospect in the class at 17 years 7 months on draft day. A switch hitter, he’s projected to have perhaps the best all-around tool set in the class, with excellent bat-to-ball skills and strong plate discipline — a rare combination and one that enticed the Nationals. His capacity to hit for power is seen as more of a question mark than it is for some other hitters toward the top of the draft; he hasn’t yet filled out, but there is plenty of potential. The rest of his skill set — his speed, fielding and arm — is seen as a plus. The 6-foot-1 infielder from Fort Cobb-Broxton High is the son of former Los Angeles Angels outfielder Reggie Willits.

Two years ago, the younger Willits wrote in his Bible that he wanted to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. At the time, he said, it felt like an impossible goal. As time passed, it became more realistic. In a video call with reporters Sunday, he wore a Nationals hat that he picked up while working out at Nationals Park a few weeks earlier.

“When I [reclassified], I told my dad that I wanted to be in the big leagues by the time I’m 20,” Willits said. “So that’s definitely the goal.”

His stats are gaudy, as you might expect for a high-schooler taken with the first pick: He hit .473 with eight home runs and a 1.514 OPS, and he struck out in just four of his 128 plate appearances to lead Fort Cobb-Broxton to a state title.

Haas said Willits had been on the Nationals’ radar since he played for the under-18 national team in 2024.

Back in December, in a cold ballroom at MLB’s winter meetings in Dallas, the Nationals learned they had won the draft lottery. Plenty about the organization has changed in the months that followed. James Wood and MacKenzie Gore emerged as all-stars. The team fell far below preseason expectations thanks to an absence of depth created, in part, by hollow drafts of seasons past. The leaders of the front office and the clubhouse — Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez — were fired July 6. The Nationals enter the all-star break at 20 games under .500.

Most in the industry contended a sizable group of players were in contention to go No. 1 on Sunday — quite dissimilar from the previous two times the Nationals had the top pick, when they made the franchise-altering decisions to draft Stephen Strasburg (in 2009) and Bryce Harper (in 2010).

This contingent included a handful of college pitchers, two high school infielders from Oklahoma, a college bat and a high school pitcher. Even amid the chaos, Washington had the obvious caveat that it could make its pick unencumbered by the choices of others. Winning the lottery also gave the team a larger bonus pool to spread out across the first 10 rounds of the draft — $16,597,800 in all.

In a surprise, UC Santa Barbara right-hander Tyler Bremner went second overall to the Angels. The other two players frequently connected to the Nationals — LSU lefty Kade Anderson and high school infielder Ethan Holliday — went Nos. 3 and 4 to the Seattle Mariners and Colorado Rockies, respectively.

During DeBartolo’s introductory news conference Tuesday, he said he would bring his own voice to the draft process. The 41-year-old then flew back to Washington to meet with those piecing together the team’s draft choices — a group he expressed confidence in. Throughout his conversation with reporters, he repeatedly mentioned the bonus pool. How a team allocates its money (and how much a player commands) can have a monumental impact on the decision at hand.

Last year, the Nationals selected Seaver King 10th overall and signed him for about $800,000 under his slot value. That, in part, helped them sign Luke Dickerson, a high school shortstop, for about $1.7 million above slot — or about $3.8 million, the most ever in the bonus-pool era for a player selected in the second round or later.

Eli Willits is the son of former MLB outfielder Reggie Willits. (Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman/USA Today Network/Imagn Images)

The consensus was that Willits might sign an under-slot deal, which would allow Washington to make a bigger splash later in the draft. Unlike the Nationals’ past No. 1 picks, Willits is not represented by mega agent Scott Boras. Holliday and Anderson are. Willits’s agent is former Nationals assistant general manager Bryan Minniti of WME Sports.

The fact that Nationals team analysts and scouts saw Willits in the same light was seen as a huge plus.

“I think you always try to blend both worlds, right? Analytics and scouting,” Haas said. “We’ve tried to do that the last couple years especially. Just the high contact rate, the plate discipline, the patient ABs with the true switch-hit profiles becoming more valuable in this game. The contact rates, contact quality appeal to everyone in the room.”

“The success that Eli had at his age was a particularly distinguishing factor,” DeBartolo said.

Second-round pick Ethan Petry brings plenty of power potential. (Ken Ruinard/Imagn Images)

With their second-round pick (No. 49 overall), the Nationals selected South Carolina outfielder/first baseman Ethan Petry. The 21-year-old’s key skill is well-above-average power, though that comes with an aggressive plate approach as well as running and fielding tools that are believed to be a step behind. The right-handed hitter dealt with a sprained left shoulder joint this past season but hit more than 20 homers in each of his first two college seasons.

The Nationals selected high school pitcher Landon Harmon with their third-round pick (No. 80 overall). The 6-foot-5 righty from Mississippi touches 99 mph with his fastball and could be an over-slot signing facilitated by the selection of Willits. Harmon is committed to Mississippi State.

Mississippi high-schooler Landon Harmon, pictured in 2023, has a commitment to Mississippi State. (Hannah Mattix/Clarion Ledger/USA Today Network)

The Nationals are no longer seen as one of the top farm systems in baseball. That’s what happens when you send Wood and outfielder Dylan Crews, among others, to the majors. But they are nowhere near the depths of the late 2010s and early 2020s. Righties Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana lead the way, though both are hurt. King and Dickerson have flashed. Corner infielder Yohandy Morales and lefty Alex Clemmey have popped.

Still, the system could use an influx of talent. That’s what Sunday’s first three rounds, and Monday’s remaining 17 rounds, represent.