Armed with an 100 MPH fastball, Jarlin Susana took big strides in 2024
The Juan Soto trade has already brought an influx of talent to the Nationals roster. Mackenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, and James Wood are all huge pieces of the Nats roster. However, there is one more piece of the trade who is slowly climbing his way to the big leagues, Jarlin Susana.
Susana is the hardest thrower in the Nationals organization, regularly hitting triple digits. However, he has had trouble harnessing his stuff. In 2023, he walked 5.71 batters per nine innings. He also had a slow start to the 2024 season, with an ERA over 8 heading into June.
However, something began to click for Susana after Memorial Day. In his last six starts in Low-A Fredericksburg, he allowed two runs over 30 innings. This stretch led to a promotion to High-A Wilmington, where Susana was very good outside of a couple blow up starts. In total, Susana posted a 4.34 ERA, with 157 strike outs in 103.2 innings across the two levels.
While this may not sound great, there is context required here. Susana was very unlucky, with .374 BABIP in 2024. Also, when scouting minor league pitchers, it is more useful to look at the stuff, rather than purely looking at results.
When looking at the stuff, it is easy to see why Susana is a top 100 prospect. He has a 4-seam fastball that sits at 100 MPH, and a two-seam fastball that sits at 99 MPH. Susana uses that 2-seamer to generate a lot of ground balls, while blowing the triple digit 4-seamer past hitters.
Susana also has a plus slider that sits around 90 MPH. It is his put away pitch, and is nearly as good as his fastball. His changeup is still developing, but his fastball and slider are enough to overwhelm hitters for now. An interesting idea for Susana would be to develop a Paul Skenes style “splinker”. It is a pitch that has worked for flame throwers such as Skenes, and Jhoan Duran.
While the Nationals should continue to develop Susana as a starter, the idea of him as a closer is tantalizing. A lot of his profile screams closer material. He has the 100 MPH fastball and the plus slider that a lot of elite closers have. Susana also has a lot of the deficiencies of a closer. He does not have a reliable third pitch yet, and his command is shaky. If starting does not work out, he could be a dominant closer.
Susana’s 2024 season put him on track to be a quality big league arm. While his command still is not great, it improved a lot. It is good enough for his overwhelming stuff to take over. Whether it is as a closer, or as a starter, we should be seeing Jarlin Susana in the big leagues relatively soon. He will likely start the season at Double-A Harrisburg, and should be in the big leagues in 2026 if all goes according to plan.