House re-established himself as third baseman of future with healthy year

PROSPECT REVIEW: BRADY HOUSE

Age on opening day 2024: 20

How acquired: Drafted No. 11 overall in 2021 from Winder-Barrow High School in Winder, Ga.

Ranking: No. 3 (No. 40 overall) per MLB Pipeline, No. 3 (No. 56 overall) per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2025
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

Signing bonus: $5 million

2023 levels: Single-A Fredericksburg, High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg

2023 stats: 88 G, 374 PA, 340 AB, 52 R, 106 H, 21 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 47 RBIs, 9 SB, 2 CS, 26 BB, 89 SO, .313 AVG, .365 OBP, .497 SLG, .862 OPS

Quotable: “I love it at third base. I'm getting more comfortable each and every day. It's feeling more natural each and every day. I think just getting my reps in and learning something every day, whatever it is mentally or physically.” – Brady House

2023 analysis: House needed to move past his 2022 season in a big way. After a back injury limited him to just 45 games with Fredericksburg in his first full professional season, the former first-round pick needed to bounce back in 2022 and prove he can still be a top prospect.

Well, all signs suggest that he’s back to that level after a solid year across three affiliates.

House started the season with 36 games at Fredericksburg, slashing .297/.369/.500 with an .869 OPS, eight doubles, one triple, six homers, 22 RBIs, five stolen bases and 16 walks. He then crushed High-A ball to the tune of a .318/.368/.540/.907 slash line and another three homers in 16 games with the Blue Rocks, earning him a quick promotion to Double-A in late July.

Over his last 36 games of the season, House, who turned 20 in June, seemed to handle Double-A pitching pretty well. He hit .324 with a .358 on-base percentage, eight doubles, two triples, three homers and 12 RBIs with the Senators. He did, however, only walk seven times and struck out 42 times.

Nonetheless, House found offensive production at every level he played all while playing third base full-time for the first time. Originally drafted as a shortstop, House had a .946 fielding percentage and committed only four errors over his final 51 games at the hot corner.

2024 outlook: The biggest development for House – and possibly the Nats farm – in 2023 was his health. He nearly doubled the amount of games he played last year even after being slow-paced in spring training.

Offensively, he showed that he can hit, though the Nats would like to see some more power numbers while also decreasing his strikeouts as he continues to mature at the plate.

And with his solid play at third base throughout the season, House showed he is the team’s future at the position, which is what they drafted him to be.

Keep in mind he just turned 20. But with similar results at Double-A or even Triple-A Rochester to start next season, House could fasttrack his ETA to the majors and possibly reach Washington by September. Especially since the Nats have no clear solution at third currently at Triple-A or the major league roster.