Fedde among Washington camp invitees

Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López may have gone to the White Sox in the Adam Eaton deal, but Nationals fans will still have a highly ranked pitching prospect to watch in big league camp during Spring Training. 
With the club's pitchers and catchers scheduled to report on Tuesday, Washington extended non-roster invitations to 24 players on Saturday, including No. 60 overall prospectErick Fedde.

The right-hander, who turns 24 on Feb. 25, started 2016 with Class A Advanced Potomac, going 6-4 with a 2.85 ERA and 95 strikeouts against 19 walks over 91 2/3 innings in 18 games, including 17 starts. For Double-A Harrisburg at the end of the season, Fedde was 2-1 with a 3.99 ERA in five starts. Minus a rough outing against Erie on Aug. 16, he never allowed more than three runs in any Eastern League outing and gave up more than four in four starts all season.
The 2014 first-round pick underwent Tommy John surgery the month before he was drafted, so he didn't make his professional debut until June 2015. Still, he went 5-3 with a 3.38 ERA between Class A Short Season Auburn and Class A Hagerstown that year.
His best tools are a pair of pitches graded a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale: a jumpy fastball in the low- to mid-90s and a slower slider MLB Pipeline describes as having "enough depth and tilt to miss bats."
Joining Fedde in big league camp are outfielder Andrew Stevenson, who finished 2016 ranked as the Nationals' No. 5 prospect, and third baseman Drew Ward, who wound up two spots behind Stevenson on the organization rankings. Stevenson posted a .276/.332/.374 slash line with 39 stolen bases between Potomac and Harrisburg last year, while Ward -- playing for the same two clubs -- totaled 14 homers while posting a .348 on-base percentage.
Other Minor Leaguers receiving invitations include righties Taylor Hill, Kyle McGowin and Wander Suero, southpaw Nick Lee and first baseman Neftali Soto.