Hartle’s Debut Sparks Nationals Hype | Washington Nationals News

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
It's August 7th, from game day to every day. This is Washington Nationals News Today, powered by AI.
Josh Hartle, a new prospect for the Nationals, made his debut with Double-A Harrisburg on Thursday night. He was acquired just days ago in a trade and pitched well, throwing five and a third innings and striking out seven batters. He only allowed one run, and his team won the game two to three.
Hartle was considered the main piece in the trade, which sent four prospects to the Nationals in exchange for Foster Griffin. He's now on the Nationals Top 30 Prospects List. He's known for having a good understanding of pitching, something the Nationals organization has a history of helping develop in players. Before this, Hartle was a highly-totted draft pick out of Wake Forest, but his performance dipped in his junior year.
He was still drafted in the third round by the Pirates, then traded to the Guardians. With Cleveland, he had a strong season in High-A, earning Pitcher of the Year honors in the Midwest League. This season, Hartle started in Double-A Akron. While his earned run average wasn't always stellar, he was getting a lot of ground balls, which is a good sign for limiting hits. In his last few starts before the trade, he really turned things around, giving up very few runs and hits. The Nationals organization has a good track record of developing taller left-handed pitchers, even those who don't throw exceptionally hard. Players like Mitchell Parker, Jake Bennett, DJ Herz, and Andrew Alvarez have all found success within their system. It will be interesting to see how Hartle fits into their plans as he continues his development.