Baseball America No. 9 Nats prospect: Drew Ward

This offseason is exciting as we look ahead to the potential of 20-year-old third baseman Drew Ward. He is a 6-foot-4, 210-lb. infielder from a town of about 440 in central Oklahoma. Ward hit 10 homers last year, after hitting one in 2013 for the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Nationals, and added an impressive 73 RBIs.

The 2013 third-rounder could be one of those future power bats the Nationals covet. After Steven Souza Jr. was traded and Tyler Moore is potentially in the big leagues for good, Matt Skole and Ward are next in line as guys that can drive the ball with power in the Nats system.

Ward hit those 10 homers with low Single-A Hagerstown in a span of 115 games. He also had 26 doubles and three triples. He also hits from the left side. So power and a lefty bat in the infield could always be an important addition to the Nats lineup.

Ward did a nice job in his splits, .268 versus lefties and .270 versus righties. As one would expect, a majority of his homers were off of right-handers (eight). He also hit .270 in the dog days of August when a lot of young players can hit a wall, used to playing 40 or so games a season in college or high school.

And he just turned 20 on Nov. 25. It will be interesting now to see how his talent matches up against Carolina League pitching, his likely next step to high Single-A Potomac.

According to Baseball America, Ward is the No. 9 prospect in the Nationals system.

No. 9: third baseman Drew Ward

Ward didn't go to college and got his GED similar to what Bryce Harper did to accelerate the start of his career.

"I like Drew Ward," Baseball America editor-in-chief John Manuel said. "He was a decorated high school player in Oklahoma, but played a lot for the USA Baseball program in Cary, N.C. The difference with him and Bryce is Drew came out early because he was old(er). He was like a 19-year-old high school senior. But he has the bat to do it.

"Drew has the offensive ability to do it. And the fact that he developed that offensive ability from a small town, it is hard to project sometimes players like that because there's so many small-town teams and the caliber of competition can vary quite widely. There is good high school baseball talent in that state, but it's hard to see in the high schools because sometimes these high school hitters are facing 75 mph pitches."

Manuel said it is not easy to go from the type of competition Ward was facing to the kind of talent he had to face pitching-wise in the South Atlantic League.

"It is very encouraging that Drew Ward was able to jump right into full season in his first full year in 2014 and do more than just hold his own," Manuel noted. "I think those power numbers are pretty good. The question for him will be all about pitch recognition.

"That caliber of pitcher in (the South Atlantic League), throwing 97 mph with a dastardly breaking ball, he didn't see any of that in high school in Oklahoma. The fact that he was able to make that adjustment to pro level pitching - he swam, he didn't sink - I think is encouraging for him to really tap into that plus raw power, trusting his hands more consistently and seeing how his pitch recognition (develops). That walk/strikeout ratio, that's the red flag for me (121 strikeouts/42 walks in 431 at-bats)."

Ward's frame can certainly sustain and excel the power numbers he hopes to reach.

"He is a big boy with size 16 shoes," Manuel continued. "Big feet and he's not fleet afoot. So is this guy going to outgrow third base? I think that's possible. So when you don't run well, the outfield is not really an option."

Can Ward be the athlete that Ryan Zimmerman or Anthony Rendon have been at third base? Manuel said he doesn't necessarily have to be.

"If he is a third baseman, he's going to be more of a step-and-dive range guy with arm strength," Manuel said. "So he's either got to be really good at that, be very sure-handed and make all the routine plays or he's going to have to amp up his power production and move over to first base. There's things to like. He can hit, he shows some feel for hitting, but the defense is going to be the real question."