# List of Washington Nationals first-round draft picks

The Washington Nationals are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Washington, D.C. Prior to 2005, they were known as the Montreal Expos and based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Nationals play in the National League East division. Since the institution of MLB's Rule 4 Draft, the Expos/Nationals have selected 73 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. The First-Year Player Draft is unrelated to the 1968 expansion draft in which the Expos initially filled their roster.
Of the 73 players picked in the first round by Montreal or Washington, 38 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 27 of them were right-handed, while 11 were left-handed. Thirteen outfielders, ten shortstops, five third basemen, four catchers, and three first basemen were also taken. The team has never drafted a player at second base. In all, 40 of the players were drafted from high school, 27 from four-year colleges, and four from junior colleges. Eleven of the players came from high schools, universities, or junior colleges in the state of California, and Florida follows with 10 players. They have also drafted two players from Puerto Rico: Josue Estrada (1993) and Hiram Bocachica (1994).
No pick has been elected to the Hall of Fame. One first-round pick, Bryce Harper (2010), has been named Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in his career, earning National League rookie honors in 2012 and National League MVP honors in 2015, both with the Nationals. Harper is the second of the Nationals' two overall #1 selections; the first was Stephen Strasburg in 2009. Condredge Holloway (1971) was drafted as a shortstop, but ended up becoming a quarterback in the Canadian Football League, and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
The Expos/Nationals have made 19 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and six compensatory picks since their entry into the league in 1969. These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. The Expos/Nationals have failed to sign four of their first-round picks: Condredge Holloway (1971), Charles Johnson (1989), John Patterson (1996), and Aaron Crow (2008). The Expos received no compensation for failing to sign Holloway, but received the 40th pick in 1990, the 52nd pick in 1997, and the 10th pick in 2009 for failing to sign Johnson, Patterson, and Crow, respectively.

## Key

| Year | Each year links to an article about that year's Major League Baseball Draft. |
| Position | Indicates the secondary/collegiate position at which the player was drafted, rather than the professional position the player may have gone on to play |
| Pick | Indicates the number of the pick |
| * | Player did not sign with the Expos/Nationals |
| § | Indicates a supplemental pick |
| '19 | Player was a member of the Nationals' 2019 championship team |

## Picks

| Year | Name | Position | School (location) | Pick |
| 1968 | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick |
| 1969 | Balor Moore | Left-handed pitcher | Deer Park High School (Deer Park, Texas) | 22 |
| 1970 | Barry Foote | Catcher | Smithfield-Selma High School (Selma, North Carolina) | 3 |
| 1971 | Condredge Holloway* | Shortstop | Lee High School (Huntsville, Alabama) | 4 |
| 1972 | Bobby Goodman | Catcher | Bishop Byrne High School (Memphis, Tennessee) | 5 |
| 1973 | Gary Roenicke | Shortstop | Edgewood High School (West Covina, California) | 8 |
| 1974 | Ron Sorey | Third baseman | Stebbins High School (Dayton, Ohio) | 9 |
| 1975 | Art Miles | Shortstop | Crockett High School (Austin, Texas) | 10 |
| 1976 | Bob James | Right-handed pitcher | Verdugo Hills High School (Sunland, California) | 9 |
| 1977 | Bill Gullickson | Right-handed pitcher | Joliet Catholic Academy (Joliet, Illinois) | 2 |
| 1978 | Glenn Franklin | Shortstop | Chipola Junior College (Marianna, Florida) | 9 |
| 1979 | Tim Wallach | First baseman | California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, California) | 10 |
| 1980 | Terry Francona | Outfielder | University of Arizona (Tucson, Arizona) | 22 |
| 1981 | Darren Dilks | Left-handed pitcher | Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (Stillwater, Oklahoma) | 18 |
| 1982 | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick |
| 1983 | Rich Stoll | Right-handed pitcher | University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan) | 14 |
| 1983 | Brian Holman | Right-handed pitcher | Wichita North High School (Wichita, Kansas) | 16 |
| 1984 | Bob Caffrey | Catcher | California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, California) | 13 |
| 1984 | Norm Charlton | Left-handed pitcher | Rice University (Houston, Texas) | 28§ |
| 1985 | Pete Incaviglia | Third baseman | Oklahoma State University–Stillwater (Stillwater, Oklahoma) | 8 |
| 1986 | Kevin Dean | Outfielder | Hogan High School (Vallejo, California) | 15 |
| 1987 | Delino DeShields | Shortstop | Seaford Senior High School (Seaford, Delaware) | 12 |
| 1987 | Tyrone Kingwood | Outfielder | Imperial Valley College (Imperial, California) | 28§ |
| 1988 | Dave Wainhouse | Right-handed pitcher | Washington State University (Pullman, Washington) | 19 |
| 1989 | Charles Johnson* | Catcher | Fort Pierce Westwood High School (Fort Pierce, Florida) | 10 |
| 1990 | Shane Andrews | Third baseman | Carlsbad High School (Carlsbad, New Mexico) | 11 |
| 1990 | Rondell White | Outfielder | Jones County High School (Gray, Georgia) | 24 |
| 1990 | Gabe White | Left-handed pitcher | Sebring High School (Sebring, Florida) | 28§ |
| 1990 | Stan Spencer | Right-handed pitcher | Stanford University (Stanford, California) | 35§ |
| 1990 | Ben Van Ryn | Left-handed pitcher | East Noble High School (Kendallville, Indiana) | 37§ |
| 1990 | Stan Robertson | Outfielder | Plainview High School (Plainview, Texas) | 40§ |
| 1991 | Cliff Floyd | First baseman | Thornwood High School (South Holland, Illinois) | 14 |
| 1992 | B. J. Wallace | Left-handed pitcher | Mississippi State University (Mississippi State, Mississippi) | 3 |
| 1993 | Chris Schwab | Outfielder | Cretin High School (St. Paul, Minnesota) | 18 |
| 1993 | Josue Estrada | Outfielder | Medardo Carazo High School (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico) | 31§ |
| 1994 | Hiram Bocachica | Shortstop | Rexville High School (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) | 21 |
| 1994 | Mike Thurman | Right-handed pitcher | Oregon State University (Corvallis, Oregon) | 31§ |
| 1995 | Michael Barrett | Shortstop | Pace Academy (Atlanta, Georgia) | 28 |
| 1996 | John Patterson* | Right-handed pitcher | West Orange-Stark High School (West Orange, Texas) | 5 |
| 1997 | Donnie Bridges | Right-handed pitcher | Oak Grove High School (Hattiesburg, Mississippi) | 23 |
| 1997 | Chris Stowe | Right-handed pitcher | Chancellor High School (Fredericksburg, Virginia) | 37§ |
| 1997 | Scott Hodges | Shortstop | Henry Clay High School (Lexington, Kentucky) | 38§ |
| 1997 | Bryan Hebson | Right-handed pitcher | Auburn University (Auburn, Alabama) | 44§ |
| 1997 | Thomas Pittman | First baseman | East St. John High School (Garyville, Louisiana) | 45§ |
| 1997 | T. J. Tucker | Right-handed pitcher | River Ridge High School (New Port Richey, Florida) | 47§ |
| 1997 | Shane Arthurs | Right-handed pitcher | Westmoore High School (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) | 48§ |
| 1997 | Tootie Myers | Outfielder | Petal High School (Petal, Mississippi) | 52§ |
| 1998 | Josh McKinley | Shortstop | Malvern Preparatory School (Malvern, Pennsylvania) | 11 |
| 1998 | Brad Wilkerson | Outfielder | University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida) | 33§ |
| 1999 | Josh Girdley | Left-handed pitcher | Jasper High School (Jasper, Texas) | 6 |
| 2000 | Justin Wayne | Right-handed pitcher | Stanford University (Stanford, California) | 5 |
| 2001 | Josh Karp | Right-handed pitcher | University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California) | 6 |
| 2002 | Clint Everts | Right-handed pitcher | Cypress Falls High School (Houston, Texas) | 5 |
| 2003 | Chad Cordero | Right-handed pitcher | California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, California) | 20 |
| 2004 | Bill Bray | Left-handed pitcher | College of William & Mary (Williamsburg, Virginia) | 13 |
| 2005 | Ryan Zimmerman '19 | Third baseman | University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia) | 4 |
| 2006 | Chris Marrero | Outfielder | Monsignor Edward Pace High School (Miami Gardens, Florida) | 15 |
| 2006 | Colton Willems | Right-handed pitcher | John Carroll Catholic High School (Fort Pierce, Florida) | 22 |
| 2007 | Ross Detwiler | Left-handed pitcher | Missouri State University (Springfield, Missouri) | 6 |
| 2007 | Josh Smoker | Left-handed pitcher | Calhoun High School (Calhoun, Georgia) | 31§ |
| 2007 | Michael Burgess | Outfielder | Hillsborough High School (Tampa, Florida) | 49§ |
| 2008 | Aaron Crow* | Right-handed pitcher | University of Missouri (Columbia, Missouri) | 9 |
| 2009 | Stephen Strasburg '19 | Right-handed pitcher | San Diego State University (San Diego, California) | 1 |
| 2009 | Drew Storen | Right-handed pitcher | Stanford University (Stanford, California) | 10§ |
| 2010 | Bryce Harper | Outfielder | College of Southern Nevada (Henderson, Nevada) | 1 |
| 2011 | Anthony Rendon '19 | Third baseman | Rice University (Houston, Texas) | 6 |
| 2011 | Alex Meyer | Right-handed pitcher | University of Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky) | 23 |
| 2011 | Brian Goodwin | Outfielder | Miami Dade College (Miami, Florida) | 34§ |
| 2012 | Lucas Giolito | Right-handed pitcher | Harvard-Westlake High School (Los Angeles, California) | 16 |
| 2013 | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick |
| 2014 | Erick Fedde '19 | Right-handed pitcher | University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, Nevada) | 18 |
| 2015 | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick | no first-round pick |
| 2016 | Carter Kieboom '19 | Shortstop | Walton High School (Marietta, Georgia) | 28 |
| 2016 | Dane Dunning | Right-handed pitcher | University of Florida (Gainesville, Florida) | 34§ |
| 2017 | Seth Romero | Left-handed pitcher | University of Houston (Houston, Texas) | 25 |
| 2018 | Mason Denaburg | Right-handed pitcher | Merritt Island High School (Merritt Island, Florida) | 27 |
| 2019 | Jackson Rutledge | Right-handed pitcher | San Jacinto College (Houston, Texas) | 17 |
| 2020 | Cade Cavalli | Right-handed pitcher | University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma) | 22 |
| 2021 | Brady House | Shortstop | Winder-Barrow High School (Winder, Georgia) | 11 |
| 2022 | Elijah Green | Outfielder | IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida) | 5 |
| 2023 | Dylan Crews | Outfielder | LSU (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) | 2 |
| 2024 | Seaver King | Shortstop | Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) | 10 |