Nationals' instructional league roster: Pitchers

The Nationals are preparing their prospects for the instructional league schedule, which will begin Sept. 23 at home in Viera, Fla., against Atlanta. Report date is Sept. 16 and the first workout is Sept. 17. Each day of the current road trip we will focus on the roster and today our focus is on the pitchers. Here is the list of the 24 pitchers expected on the roster: Name (Age) Position Gregori Baez (19) LHP A.J. Cole (19) RHS Paul Demny (22) RHS Brian Dupra (22) RHS Pedro Encarnacion (20) RHS Wirkin Estevez (19) RHS Christian Garcia (26) RHR Matt Grace (23) LHS Taylor Hill (22) RHS Greg Holt (22) RHP Taylor Jordan (22) RHS Nathan Karns (23) RHS Jack McGeary (22) LHS Chris McKenzie (21) RHS Alex Meyer (21) RHS Blake Monar (22) LHP Ivan Pineyro (19) RHS Matthew Purke (21) LHS Elvin Ramirez (23) RHR Robbie Ray (19) LHS Manny Rodriguez (22) RHS Cameron Selik (24) RHS Matthew Swynenberg (22) RHS Kylin Turnbull (21) LHS Pitching coaches: Chris Michalak, Michael Tejera Pitching coordinator: Spin Williams Key: LHP - left-handed pitcher LHP - left-handed starter RHR - right-handed reliever RHS - right-handed starter There are some big-time prospects on this pitching roster, especially top selections Purke, Turnbull and Meyer. Nationals closer Drew Storen told me McGeary has fought through several injuries to get back to this point and this is a big off season for his former Stanford teammate. Nationals director of player development Doug Harris has talked a lot about how the Dominican academy has started to grow some talent within the organization, and Estevez and Pineyro are good examples. Selik has pitched out of the bullpen recently at Single-A Potomac. Ray and Cole are names we heard a lot about this season and it was good to see them get so much experience with the Single-A Hagerstown Suns. Demny has done well with the P-Nats focusing on the task at hand and has built his confidence. Dupra, Hill, Karns and Rodriguez are pitchers short-season Single-A Auburn manager Gary Cathcart told me showed considerable promise this season. I am interested to see what Garcia has to show, as we did not get to see enough of him this year at Potomac. What pitching prospects are you interested in seeing pitch? Tomorrow's focus will be on the deep set of catchers the Nationals have built up in the organization, including Dominican 17-year-old Raudy Read.