As Sykora rises up ranks, the "sky’s the limit"

Travis Sykora was a big 19-year-old kid who had just graduated high school when the Nationals selected him with their third-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The 6-foot-6, 232-pound right-hander was the best high school arm coming out of the state of Texas and one of the best prep pitchers in the whole country.

So when he fell to them at No. 71 overall, the Nats felt like they were getting a first-round talent
with their third pick. Combine that with No. 2 overall pick Dylan Crews and second-rounder Yohandy Morales, and the Nats like to think they came away with three first-round selections in last year’s draft.

Now at 20 years old, he’s in his first full professional season at Single-A Fredericksburg and adjusting well.

“It’s been going great,” Sykora said. “Just to be here, after the draft, I was always excited to be here to start my pro career. So to get it going, it’s been great. I feel good. I’ve been pitching pretty decently. So everything’s been great.”

Pretty decently is selling Sykora very short. He’s pitching like a first-round pick while blowing away hitters in Single-A ball.

Over his first 16 professional starts with the FredNats, Sykora is 3-3 with a 2.51 ERA, 0.868 WHIP and 101 strikeouts to just 22 walks and two home runs allowed.

“Honestly, going into the draft, everyone said, ‘High school pitchers, there’s a lot you gotta adjust with and kinda adapt to in pro ball.’ But honestly for me, … there really was no adjustment,” Sykora said. “I felt like I was really prepared. That’s why I wanted to go pro and I knew that it was the right decision. I felt like I was prepared from the daily lifestyle side of things to the training side of things. Being able to be self-sufficient, I feel like I did a good job of preparing myself before the draft on that.”

Sykora has impressed with high strikeout numbers. Per nine innings, he’s striking 13.4 batters, walking 2.9 and only surrendering 0.3 homers. He’s striking out nearly five batters for every one he walks. And he’s doing so while developing his pitch arsenal to stun batters with his upper-90s fastball, which has a 70 grade per MLB Pipeline, and keep them off-balance with his slider and splitter.

“Strikeouts have been good,” he said. “Obviously, that’s a big part of my game, getting those strikeouts. I think I’ve been doing a good job of that.”

While the strikeout numbers are impressive, there are some things Sykora is looking to work on as the end of the season draws near.

“I guess being consistent throughout the whole start,” he said. “Because a couple of my starts this year, I’ve been just lights-out and I’ll have one inning where I’m not so light-out. And the next inning, I go back to being fine. So right now I’m just focusing on staying consistent and staying focused throughout the whole start.”

And now, he isn’t the only top high school pitcher from the 2023 Draft in the Nats farm system at Fredericksburg.

Alex Clemmey rounded out MLB Pipeline’s top 50 prospects heading into last year’s draft before the Guardians selected him in the second round at No. 58 overall.

A fellow big hurler at 6-foot-6 and 205 pounds, the left-handed Clemmey headlined the deal that sent Lane Thomas to Cleveland right before the trade deadline and now enters the Nats organization as their No. 6 ranked prospect, per MLB Pipeline.

But while Clemmey adjusts to his new team, Sykora has already established himself as the Nats’ newest top pitching prospect.

The big righty has been especially dominant as of late, including pitching five hitless innings while facing the minimum with eight strikeouts on Aug. 2 against the Lynchburg Hillcats (Guardians), earning him Carolina League Pitcher of the Week honors.

Sykora followed that outing with his most impressive start to date: Six perfect innings with 10 strikeouts to start the FredNats’ combined no-hitter of the Carolina Mudcats (Brewers) on Aug. 9, the first in franchise history. That performance also earned him Pitcher of the Week honors to become the first pitcher in the Carolina League to win the award in back-to-back weeks. He also earned a promotion into MLB Pipeline’s top 100 prospects and to the Nats’ No. 3 prospect overall.

“Somebody like Travis Sykora is a young kid, 18-19 years old,” said Fredericksburg manager Jake Lowery. “Just came from the draft. This is the place for him to develop and hone in on everything. I think you have better defenses here, you’re facing better hitters. For him to continue his rise up, it’s something fun to watch. He uses his fastball. He’s 95-97 (mph). But also has a really good splitter, a really good out pitch. Great draft pick for us last year to get a young right-handed pitcher like that with his size and ability. The sky’s the limit.”

Sykora is scheduled to make two starts this week against the Columbia Fireflies (Royals), starting tonight. With only three weeks left in the Single-A season, it's unlikely the Nationals will promote him to make a couple of starts at High-A Wilmington before the offseason. But Sykora has done everything he can to impress the Nats brass in his first professional season, setting himself up to continue climbing the ranks in the years to come.

“The big goal is staying healthy, so that’s the big one I’m working on,” Sykora said. “There are a lot of things in my routine to stay healthy. That’ll be the first one. And I think, it sounds cliché, but just developing and turning into a better pitcher. Truly just learning when to throw the right pitch at the right time. And like I said, just stay consistent. So just kinda polishing myself up the rest of the season would be a good goal.”