For first time in six years, Nats lacking top 100 pitching prospect

Monday's release of Baseball America's top 100 prospects list for 2018 was notable, from the Nationals' perspective, for two reasons: Victor Robles' ascension into one of the sport's best prospects is complete, given his No. 5 overall ranking, and for the first time in a long time, the Nats have no pitching prospects on the list.

Nope, no pitchers. Robles and fellow outfielder Juan Soto (ranked 56th) are the only Nationals in this year's top 100 at all. And that's quite unusual for this organization.

The Nationals have featured no shortage of big-name pitching prospects over the years, from Erick Fedde (No. 52 in 2017, No. 82 in 2016, No. 90 in 2015) to Lucas Giolito (No. 5 in 2016, No. 7 in 2015, No. 21 in 2014, No. 67 in 2013) to Reynaldo López (No. 49 in 2015) to A.J. Cole and Joe Ross (Nos. 91 and 96 in 2015, respectively).

You have to go all the way back to 2012 to find zero Nats pitchers in Baseball America's top 100 list, so that makes this year uncharted territory for an organization that has become so successful on the shoulders of its (mostly) homegrown pitching staff.

How did this happen? Well, last winter's trade of Giolito, López and left-hander Dane Dunning (No. 82 on this year's list) to the White Sox for outfielder Adam Eaton stripped the franchise of a good chunk of its young pitching depth. Fedde, meanwhile, fell out of this year's rankings after an erratic 2017 season that included his major league debut but overall was disappointing.

The Nationals' lack of high first-round draft picks in recent years also is starting to show up. They lost their first-round picks in 2013 and 2015 after signing Rafael Soriano and Max Scherzer as free agents. And their first pick in each of the last three years has been 25th or lower, leading to less-touted selections like Dunning (29th), shortstop Carter Kieboom (28th) and left-hander Seth Romero (25th).

Considering all that, it's not terribly surprising the Nationals are low on elite pitching prospects at the moment.

Which isn't to say the pitchers they do currently have in their system aren't going to develop into quality major leaguers. Fedde may have slogged through a difficult 2017, but he remains highly regarded and highly untested. Romero, who started six games for short-season Single-A Auburn last summer, is expected to be a quick riser through the farm system and may burst onto the scene in short order.

It's also worth noting that the Nationals have the top two slots in their rotation locked up for years to come in a three-time Cy Young Award winner (Scherzer) and a first-time finalist (Stephen Strasburg). Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark are among the best No. 3 and No. 4 starters in baseball. And Ross is expected back from Tommy John surgery in midsummer, at which point he'll attempt to regain his status as one of the game's better young pitchers.

So the Nats aren't exactly clamoring for good pitchers in the short term. In the long term, though, they had better hope someone from their farm system (whether employed currently or in the near future) develops.