The Washington Nationals have one of the elite pitching prospects in the sport with Travis Sykora
Picked in the third round of the 2023 draft, Travis Sykora dominated Low-A last year. The right hander posted a 2.33 ERA in 20 starts with 129 strikeouts in 85 innings. He became a top 100 prospect and was exciting Nats fans. However, we needed to see him do it above Low-A before we could call him one of the true elite pitching prospects in the game.
His domination had to be delayed to start the season because of offseason hip surgery. Anytime you hear hip surgery, you get concerned, but Sykora was confident that getting this issue fixed would make him even better. Despite his dominance in 2024, Sykora’s velocity was in the 93-96 MPH range, rather than the upper 90’s where he lived at times in his high school career. That limited velocity might have been a blessing in disguise. Sykora says that this taught him how to become more of a pitcher rather than a thrower.
Sykora came back early in May, but the Nationals played it slow with their prized arm. He made two starts in the FCL and two starts in Low-A. In those starts, his velocity was up and he looked like a big leaguer on a rehab assignment.
Travis Sykora made his first start of the season in affiliated ball today. He retired 9 of 12 batters in three scoreless innings. Sat 96 and touched 98; he’s got 18 Ks in 8 innings.
Take a good look, kids. This is what a future ace looks like.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) May 15, 2025
After those four starts, Sykora finally got the call to High-A. Could this be where the right hander is finally challenged? A lot of analysts were really impressed with Sykora’s game but needed to see him do it at higher levels before going all in. Yes, it is nice to dominate Low-A, but the standard of hitting there is not the highest.
However, High-A could be a different story. In his first start, he faced the Orioles High-A team, which had quite the impressive lineup. The O’s first four picks in the 2024 draft all play for that team. In addition, big league star Colton Cowser was in the lineup on a rehab assignment. It was a tough assignment, but Sykora made it look easy.
His first seven outs all came via the strikeout, and once again, it just looked too easy for him out there. Sykora threw four scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, while striking out nine.
Travis Sykora records his first 7 outs via the punchout en route to a season-high 9 K’s in his High-A @WilmBlueRocks debut
4 IP | 1 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 9 K
The @Nationals‘ top prospect has allowed just two hits and zero runs over his past four starts. pic.twitter.com/Su25N6PhlQ
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 25, 2025
It was clear the IronBirds were happy to see him leave the game, scoring five runs in the fifth inning after he left. Travis Sykora had the look of a future ace in his High-A debut. He also had the look of a guy who won’t be at that level for long.
Sykora still needs to build up. The four innings he went today were the most he had gone all season. Hopefully we can see him go five next time out and go from there. However, his numbers in his five outings so far are hilarious. In 15 innings, he has a 0.60 ERA with 32 strikeouts to four walks, all while allowing just three hits.
It is fair to call him one of the best pitching prospects in baseball at this point. Making it look that easy against a good High-A lineup is wildly impressive. Sykora really has it all. His velocity is back up, he has two wipeout secondary pitches in his slider and splitter, and to top it all off he has very good command.
Right now, Travis Sykora is playing the game on easy mode. I am excited to see what he can do for the rest of the season. He should get to Double-A at least. With how he is tracking, we should see Travis Sykora in the big leagues sometime next season barring injuries. It is time to get excited, the Washington Nationals have an elite pitching prospect on their hands.