Luke Erickson: Checking out some early-season surprises on the farm

We're roughly three weeks into the minor league seasons - still in small sample size territory, but large enough to use as a story peg take notice. Before you start champing at the bit for these guys to get promoted, remember two things: The entire league hasn't seen them yet, and there has to be a space for him at the next level.

At Single-A Hagerstown, Daniel Johnson caught my eye last season by racking up nine assists and four errors last summer in 62 games for short-season Single-A Auburn, not for his power. So far he's hit five homers for the Suns and is slugging at a .597 clip - vs. one and .347 respectively. For what it's worth, he's already gunned down one runner and has yet to make an error.

Blake Perkins forced his way into this post almost on Sunday's performance (4-for-8, two walk-off hits) alone as the 20-year-old has finally started to live up the hype that made him a second-round 2015 pick) with a .357/.451/.443 line in his first 17 games.

On the mound, McKenzie Mills seems to finally putting it together after languishing in the short-season ranks of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and Single-A New York-Penn League for three summers. He's won two of three starts and struck out 22 in 15 innings. But more importantly, he's walked just five, which is key because it's the walks that's been killing him (6.0/9 in 111 innings before this season).

Like many young Dominican infielders, Singe-A Potomac's Edwin Lora has been touted for the glove first and the bat second. Well, despite his 6-foot-1 150 lb. (soaking wet in woolen clothing) listing, the 21-year-old has been hitting the ball hard - two homers, four doubles, and a .352 average. Yes, he has a career .931 fielding percentage, but he's played 225 of his 269 games at short, and that ought to tell you what the Nats think of his long-term projection.

Matt Crownover, 24, is on the old side for high Single-A, but has to be wondering what else he has to do to return to the rotation, as he's currently 3-0 with a pitcher's line (ERA/FIP/WHIP) of 0.68/2.81/1.13 in 13 1/3 innings, including five scoreless innings in a spot start last week.

The jump from high Single-A to Double-A is definitely the most difficult step for prospects to take - especially pitchers. It's not uncommon for guys to bounce back to high Single-A after struggling in Double-A. Like Austen Williams, who got hammered this time last year in his first turn at Double-A Harrisburg (1-7, 5.68 ERA).

This year, he's thrown quality starts in two of his three starts and averaged nearly a strikeout per inning for the Senators. Considering how he continued to struggle last year after his demotion (4-6, 5.32 ERA), this is a surprise.

Raudy Read finished strong at Potomac, but usually there's an adjustment to Double-A. So far the 23-year-old is continuing to mash the ball with six doubles and two home runs for a .571 slugging pct. while hitting .327 - both well above last year's totals.

While relievers are often judged by the wrong statistics (ERA, saves), it's hard not to notice that Austin Adams still hasn't allowed an earned run in six appearances for Triple-A Syracuse and has picked up two wins.

On the flip side, not all of the surprises are positive. Some are negative. Clint Robinson, for example, isn't dominating the way a guy who's had a taste of the majors ought to be, slashing just .200/.250/.333 - well below his career averages of .299/.387/.488 at Triple-A.

Of course, now that I've called these guys out, I may be held responsible for when they cool off - despite the embrace of analytics, superstition still runs deep in baseball. Of course, the reality is that hot streaks come to an end because the league adjusts to the player and it's up to them to adjust back.

Luke Erickson blogs about the Nationals' minor league affiliates for NationalsProspects.com. Follow him on Twitter: @nats_prospects. His thoughts on the Nationals' farm system will appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.