Eli Willits

There is a checklist.

And there's a pumpkin parallel, Eli Willits.

Sweet.

Yeah, right, the Griffey does look awesome.

Let's get back into it here because Stephen Strasburg had a-- has a huge legacy here in DC.

The-- But does anyone have the chance to be as impactful within the national sphere as Stephen Strasburg? And the first guy that I think of is Eli Willits.

Here's the easy comparison, both being number one overall picks.

And do I think Eli Willits is, like, on the same stratosphere as a Stephen Strasburg when they were both number one overall picks? No.

Stephen Strasburg was the obvious number one overall pick in two thousand and nine, and it was just no debate.

Like, the Nationals were taking Stephen Strasburg, and they were not even thinking about it.

That was the clear-cut decision.

Eli Willits, on the other hand, in last year's draft when the Nationals held the number one overall pick, there was a massive discussion.

I mean, there was, but I mean, this one was kinda obvious to me.

Eli Willits had such a good season in his first full year as a pro.

In 114 games between three different levels, Low A, High A, and Double-A, he would slash .265 with a .406 OBP and .463 slug to a 132 WRC+ while hitting 14 home runs and stealing 62 bases.

So productive in pretty much every aspect of the game.

Limited strikeouts pretty well.

Uh, he kept it at a 21% rate across all three levels.

Uh, not a lot to really nitpick about Eli Willits here.

I mean, he's still very young.

So that's number one right there.

But then also, you have a top three prospect in baseball with Eli Willits, who's still just 18 years old, but he got promoted to Double-A Harrisburg, and he is now just two doors away from being up in the major leagues, and I think that him being up in 2027 is very realistic at this point.

It's not gonna happen in the middle of the summer, but I do think it could happen in the second half of the season.

I think, like, maybe a September call-up, get him a cup of coffee up in the bigs, have him start 2028 down in the minors, and then get his feet wet yet again and see what happens.

He is very close to making his debut for the Nationals.

That, I think, is a very true statement, and I think with where the Nats are, that guy is a blue chip talent, a cannot miss prospect, and I know a, not a lot of people can really say that about prospects, especially when they're so young, but Eli Willits is elite defensively.

He's elite on the base paths.

He's proven that he's got a little bit more power than what we anticipated.

Really quickly, I wanna remind all of our listeners and viewers to subscribe to the District Territory show on YouTube.

We are gonna be giving away an Eli Willits signed baseball card right here, a Bowman first of the Nats one-one pick.

And, uh, you don't wanna miss any of our episodes throughout the off-season.

We're gonna keep them rolling.

Right now, the early favorite for number one pick is a high school shortstop out of California named Dylan Seward, S-E-W-A-R-D, and he looks the part of a five-tool guy.

Everything that you see in number one overall pick prep players, Eli Willits, guys like that, Dylan Seward, matches that it's, he could really handle shortstop.

It's a switch hitter.

And then you have a mess of college players.

Make sure to follow along.

You don't want to miss any of our episodes throughout the offseason, and you don't want to miss the Eli Willits signed baseball card giveaway, a Bowman first of the Nationals 1-1 overall pick from the draft a couple years ago.

Spencer, is there anything else you want to throw in today's episode before we head out?

No, I think that's all I got.

Follow us along on Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts.

You do not want to miss the Eli Willits signed baseball card giveaway we'll be having later on in the offseason.

But boys, enjoy the game later today.

We will see you next week.