Wirkin Estevez looking to return to form after two Tommy John surgeries

The instructional league roster consists of the top prospects in the Nationals organization. Upon further examination, it is impressive to notice that there are more Latin players, specifically those from the Dominican Republic, than ever before on the list.

In the system, you could put together a whole team of Dominican Republic all-stars with the Nationals.

"No doubt about it," Nationals pitching coordinator Paul Menhart said. "That's how good of a job that (vice president of international operations) Johnny DiPuglia has done with the international scouting."

DiPuglia and his staff have worked very hard finding the best players in the Dominican, and the Nationals Dominican Baseball Academy has improved, as well, producing players that not only have the talent to possibly succeed in the majors some day, but also have the tools needed to get to the next level sooner.

Throughout the organization as a whole, both position players and pitchers, there are now more Latin players than stateside players.

Focusing on the 30 pitchers invited to instructional league, nine are from the Dominican and one is from Venezuela (19-year-old right-hander Pedro Avila).

The list of the nine pitchers and their age that hail from the Dominican Republic:

RHP Joan Baez, 21
RHP Wirkin Estevez, 23
RHP Reynaldo Lopez, 22
RHP Wilber Pena, 20
RHP Luis Reyes, 20
LHP Yorlin Reynoso, 20
RHP Jefry Rodriguez, 22
RHP Jeffrey Rosa, 20
RHP Philips Valdez, 24

Estevez has been an interesting case. A top prospect when he first arrived in 2010, Estevez has had to work his way back from a pair of Tommy John surgeries to pitch in the instructional league this season, plus get a taste of the Arizona Fall League.

He did not pitch during the 2015 regular season. It has been a long road back to pitching for Estevez after enduring those two major procedures and rehabbing to the point where he could pitch again.

Menhart reports that Estevez was able to retain his mid-90s velocity after recovering from the Tommy John surgeries. Menhart said the work Estevez accomplished at instructional league and Arizona gave the youngster confidence that he could pitch at this level again.

Estevez pitched in four games for the Salt River Rafters between Oct. 21 and Nov. 11. He went 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA, but the pitching through the four innings, getting outs and finding a way through the appearances were critical to his recovery from the two surgeries.

"I think it was more peace of mind that he's healthy, you know, (after) the double Tommy John," Menhart said. "He got a standing ovation in instructional league when he faced his first hitter. The very first pitch everybody stood up and clapped.

"It was quite special because not too many people can go down that road and then still maintain their stuff because the stuff was good. Yes, it was beneficial for him to go out there and I'm glad we were able to do that for him."

With Estevez feeling rejuvenated, he is one of the first pioneers with the organization that made that initial step back in 2010 when the Nationals had only a handful of Dominican prospects capable of making it to the major leagues.

Now, with the influx of talent from the Nationals' Dominican Academy, there are dozens of Dominican prospects within the club with a shot of becoming major contributors for years to come.