2 The Bigs

By Matt Castagna:

Through the years prospectors have typically jumped for joy when they’ve looked into the Washington Nationals organization. The team injected loads of talent into their system when they traded away superstar outfielder Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres. They have already seen quite the return in budding superstar, C.J. Abrams and quality rotation arm, Mackenzie Gore.

However, it doesn’t stop there. Many eyes will continue to focus on two outfielders Robert Hassell III & James Woods as they climb through the system. Even outside of the Soto return package, the Nationals have a bevy of top-tier talent, which includes their most recent first round draft picks in outfielder Dylan Crews and shortstop Brady House. But sometimes, the fastest moving prospects come from outside the first round. Today I am here to highlight a prospect that has been making some noise in the Nationals minor league system, and could ascend quickly next year. Welcome, Trey Lipscomb to 2thebigs.com.

Coming from another polished college program in University of Tennessee, there were constant eyes on his college team, but never eyes on him specifically. However, that changed for Lipscomb in his senior year. When given the chance to become the everyday starting third basemen, Trey took the opportunity and ran with it. He led the team in home runs (22), hits (89) and OPS (1.145) that season. Following the outstanding college season, he threw his name into the early draft day conversation. Enter the Nationals, who have had a void in the hot-corner since letting Anthony Rendon head off to Los Angeles to make the lives of Angels fans miserable, and previously sent franchise-favorite Ryan Zimmerman off-into retirement. In the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft, the Nationals selected Trey Lipscomb.

Lipscomb has taken monumental strides to put pressure on the major league club to give him a chance at the highest level. He ended the 2023 season in Double-A, where he batted .284, with ten homers, 15 doubles, and an OPS of .748. He also finished in the top-15 percent across all Double-A players in contact-rate (81 percent). As you’ve most likely seen from our other profiles, here at 2TB we love low strike-out, high-contact prospects. Lipscomb is just that. To see just how high the Nat’s value Trey, in a lineup including previously mentioned House, Wood, Hassell and Crews, Lipscomb mostly slotted in the cleanup spot throughout the year.

Another Bowman Draft 2022 prospect, Lipscomb can be overlooked in this set by the other National’s top prospect, Elijah Greene. This is a good opportunity to grab a prospect on the rise for a good value. I’d recommend picking up a color auto, specifically, the blue refractor (/150) which can be secured for a measly $35-$45.