King, a 21-year-old shortstop/outfielder from Wake Forest, spent his first two seasons at Division II Wingate, where he hit .381 and .411. He transferred to Wake Forest and continued to produce in the ACC — he hit .308 with a .954 OPS last season for the Demon Deacons.
“If you would’ve told me yesterday that I’d be a top-10 pick, I wouldn’t have believed you,” King said Sunday night. “And it’s a reality today, so I’m just thankful for the opportunity.”
King said the Nationals weren’t on his radar until about 30 minutes before the draft. Until then, he thought he would be going between the 12th and 24th picks. King grew up playing with Brady House, the Nationals’ first-round pick at No. 11 in 2021, and was at his draft party. He never imagined he would be in House’s shoes one day.
Wingate was the only team that offered him out of high school. He thought he would play four seasons and then become “a normal human,” as he put it. But then he had a good freshman season and followed it up with a better sophomore year. Before playing his junior season at Wake Forest after transferring, he tore up the Cape Cod Baseball League, hitting .424 with a 1.021 OPS. That was when he realized being a major leaguer was possible.
A right-handed hitter, King excels at sending line drives to all parts of the field. The primary knock against him is that he has to improve his plate discipline. Defensively, King is most comfortable at shortstop but said he could play anywhere. At Wake Forest, he played second base, shortstop, third base and center field.
“He plays at a speed that very few guys do when he wants to,” said Danny Haas, the Nationals’ vice president of amateur scouting, who said the team views King as a shortstop moving forward. “… He’s just an incredible athlete, and we’re happy to have him.”
Lomavita, 21, hit .302 with a .903 OPS across three seasons at Cal. Scouts describe him as an aggressive hitter who can also run the bases well for a catcher. Dickerson, 18, is a three-sport athlete who also played football and hockey. Scouts believe he has plenty of power that he could grow into, but the Nationals will have to sign him away from a commitment to Virginia.
King, Lomavita and Dickerson were the first selections by Haas, the team’s new scouting director. Kris Kline had served in that role since 2009, when Mike Rizzo became general manager, but was reassigned as a special assistant to the GM. Kline was responsible for drafting Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon. But in recent years, the Nationals have struggled to draft and develop talent — specifically hitters.
Sunday was the start of a new era under a regime led by Haas, senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek and national crosschecker Reed Dunn, who returned to the team after being a scout earlier in his career.
“It was a blast,” Haas said. “Everything came together great. I’ve worked with Brad for a long time, Reed was an important addition to the staff, and it was a seamless transition between the three of us.”
The Nationals, who tied for the fifth-worst record in the majors last year, ended up with the 10th pick because of the recently altered draft lottery rules. The 2022 collective bargaining agreement prevents teams that pay into MLB’s revenue sharing system from drafting in the lottery in back-to-back years. So even though the Nationals won the lottery’s first drawing in December, they were ineligible to pick higher than 10th. (Teams that receive revenue sharing funds cannot have a lottery pick three years in a row.)
Washington entered the season with two picks on the first night of the draft — Nos. 10 and 44. On Saturday, they acquired the 39th pick from the Kansas City Royals as part of the return for reliever Hunter Harvey. The 39th pick has a slot value of $2.395 million, which boosted the Nationals’ bonus pool to $13,895,100 — giving them more financial flexibility. The slot values for the 10th and 44th picks are $5,953,800 and $2,122,200.
Haas, Ciolek and Dunn emphasized selecting athletic players who played hard while making adjustments as their careers progressed. They also said they targeted up-the-middle players with upside, which fits the profile of all three selected Sunday.
Ciolek said King has an “uncanny ability to barrel the baseball” but noted the player development staff will harp on making better swing decisions so he can do damage in the strike zone. The team was encouraged by the progress Dickerson made despite starting the high school season late and thinks he’ll develop well by focusing on baseball.
“The underlying theme here is all three of these guys made tremendous strides from their previous year to their platform year this year,” Ciolek said. “All three of these guys answered the bell this spring, and we felt really confident and good about our process. And, ultimately, we’re ecstatic to end up with all three.”
The draft continues Monday with Rounds 3 through 10 before concluding Tuesday with Rounds 11 to 20.
Note: Outfielder Griffin Burkholder, a standout at Freedom (South Riding) High, was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the second round with the 63rd pick. The West Virginia commit grabbed the attention of scouts with his rare blend of speed and power.
