Michael Taylor had a breakout season between Double-A and Triple-A, batting .304 with 20 doubles, 23 home runs and 37 stolen bases. A.J. Cole continued his strong pitching between Double-A and Triple-A, finishing with a 13-3 record and 3.16 ERA. Wilmer Difo set career highs in most offensive categories at Single-A, including batting .315 with 14 home runs and 49 stolen bases. Lucas Giolito, the #1 prospect, showed promise in his return from injury with a 2.20 ERA over 98 innings in Single-A. Austin Voth proved himself among the Nationals' top prospects with a 2.77 ERA across three

1. Nationals Minor League Feature September 4
MICHAEL TAYLOR, CENTERFIELDER, TRIPLE-A SYRACUSE
After tearing up Eastern League pitching all season, Taylor earned a late-season
promotion from Harrisburg to Syracuse and even made his MLB debut with the Nationals
in August. He ended the 2014 season with a combined .304 batting average, a .915 OPS,
20 doubles, 23 home runs, 64 RBIs and 37 stolen bases across two minor league levels.
A.J. COLE, PITCHER, GCL NATIONALS
Cole’s domination at Harrisburg followed him upon his promotion to Syracuse after the
All-Star break. Between both the Double-A and Triple-A levels of the minors in 2014,
Cole finished with a 13-3 record, 3.16 ERA and 3.47 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
WILMER DIFO, SHORTSTOP, SINGLE-A HAGERSTOWN
Difo exploded onto the prospect scene after setting career single-season highs in almost
every statistical offensive category in 2014. He ranked in the top three on the Suns in
batting average (.315), OPS (.831), hits (176), runs (91), doubles (31), triples (seven),
home runs (14), RBIs (90), walks (37) and stolen bases (49).
LUCAS GIOLITO, PITCHER, SINGLE-A SHORT-SEASON AUBURN
The Nationals’ #1 ranked prospect coming into the 2014 season did not disappoint in his
first full minor league season since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2012. In 20 starts
at Hagerstown, Giolito went 10-2 with a 2.20 ERA and 110 strikeouts in only 98 innings.
AUSTIN VOTH, PITCHER, DOUBLE-A HARRISBURG
In his first full minor league campaign, Voth proved that he belongs with the likes of
Cole and Giolito among the Nationals’ elite pitching prospects. Pitching for all of

2. Hagerstown, Potomac and Harrisburg at some point in the 2014 season, Voth finished
with a 7-7 record, a 2.77 ERA and 133 strikeouts in only 126.2 innings.