Well, the wait is over, the Washington Nationals have officially chosen their first-round pick of the 2021 MLB First-Year Draft. A bit of surprise here, as Mike Rizzo usually picks a pitcher, however, with the Nationals pretty set at the pitching spot with Cade Cavalli and others making their way up through the Nationals system, Rizzo went with Shortstop Brady House.
House is pretty young, even for a high school prospect, and he has the physical traits that excite player development staff. A broad, 6-foot-3-inch frame and long arms provide him with the opportunity to be molded into whatever kind of build the team wants. The opportunity to build the ideal body to house and utilize his exquisite raw power will be too much for some team to pass up.
FanGraphs gave Brady House an 80-grade raw power which they only give that prestigious mark to only six prospects. What makes House’s power so projectable is the fact that he isn’t overmuscled to the point where he can just use his bulk to force long drives. Instead, he has incredible bat speed and a bat path geared for power. As he grows into a more maturely developed frame, his musculature will only make his power more impressive.
House, 18, hit .549 (50-for-91) with 12 doubles, eight home runs, 20 RBI, 21 stolen bases, 29 walks, nine strikeouts and 52 runs scored during his senior season at Widner-Barrow High School in Widner, GA. He posted a .675 on-base percentage and a .967 slugging percentage en route to being named First Team All-America by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound shortstop is ranked by Baseball America as the №7 draft prospect (№4 shortstop) and by MLBPipeline.com as the №8 draft prospect (№4 shortstop). House is ranked by Perfect Game as the top high school prospect in the 2021 First-Year Player Draft.
The right-handed hitting, right-handed throwing House was a preseason Second Team All-America selection by Baseball America and a First Team All-America selection by Perfect Game. He was selected to participate in the 2020 Perfect Game All-American Classic.
