Nats Make Family Connection With Kieboom

WASHINGTON—With their first of back-to-back first-round picks, the Nationals stuck with a family that’s familiar to them.

Washington took Walton High (Marietta, Ga.) shortstop Carter Kieboom, the brother of Double-A Harrisburg catcher Spencer Kieboom at No. 28 overall. The franchise followed that up by taking righthander Dane Dunning, a power arm who’s part of a deep Florida pitching staff.

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Carter Kieboom is known for his baseball IQ and has the feel for the game that might keep him at shortstop. He has a selective feel at the plate. Though he signed with Clemson, he’s unlikely to end up at Spencer’s alma mater.

“He’s very athletic, and we see him as a shortstop,” scouting director Kris Kline said. “He has very good tools—some above-average and some solid-average. He’s going to be a good big leaguer with good makeup.”

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Kieboom hit .366/.504/.644 in 101 at-bats this season at Walton High. He was an ambidextrous pitcher early in his high school career, but he now strictly throws righthanded and also bats righthanded. Kieboom was one of the MVPs of the 2015 Under Armour All-America Game in Wrigley Field.

Spencer Kieboom, a fifth-round pick in 2012, has played in the Arizona Fall League and is one of the top catching prospects in the Nationals’ system, but Carter is viewed as the best prospect in a family that also includes Georgia outfielder/first baseman Trevor Kieboom.

In the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Dunning, Washington adds a pitcher who has hit the mid-90s when coming out of the bullpen and the low-90s as a starter who also has an average slider and changeup. Through regional play, he’s 5-3, 2.50 with 78 strikeouts and 11 walks in 68 innings.

“We’re definitely going to develop him as a starter,” Kline said. “He’s coming from one of the best programs in the country, but he would’ve been the Friday night starter for 95 percent of the college teams.”

Dunning was part of Florida’s top-ranked 2013 high school class. Three years ago, he was a 34th-round pick of the Blue Jays out of Clay High in Green Cove Springs, Fla., despite his commitment to the Gators.

The Nationals picked 28th and 29th as compensation for losing righthander Jordan Zimmermann and now-outfielder Ian Desmond last offseason to the Tigers and Rangers, respectively. They lost their own first-rounder when they signed free agent second baseman Daniel Murphy.

CAPITAL GAINS

• Lefthanded reliever Bryan Harper, the older brother of Nationals star right fielder Bryce Harper, is at Triple-A Syracuse after striking out the side in order in his final outing with Harrisburg. Before the promotion, the 26-year-old Harper was 2-1, 1.37 in 26 innings withs even saves for the Senators.

• The initial low Class A South Atlantic League all-star rosters incuded five Hagerstown players: righthanders Jefry Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera III; second baseman Max Schrock, third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and outfielder Victor Robles. Meanwhile, four Potomac players made the Carolina League roster: righthander Ryan Brinley, third baseman Drew Ward, and outfielders Alec Keller and Andrew Stevenson.