Is there ever a bad time for a 'best of' team? With hurlers not reporting for another two months, December seems like the ideal time to create 'a best' of the Harrisburg Senators' team, since 2005. The list is strictly my opinion, meant to be controversial, and is something many of you will want to argue about over the 2024 holiday season.

None of these guys have gone on to become great Nats, yet. Ryan Zimmerman spent most of his first year in Harrisburg, but he was not a great Senator. Some of the players only had half a season in Pennsylvania before being promoted.

For example, Brad Lord, the Nats' 18th pick in the 2022 draft, was 8-1 with the Senators in 2024 with a 1.40 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, and batters only hit 0.201 against him. Better still, Lord struck out 75 in 70 2/3 innings. No one expected this, but he produced well every day. I expect to see him in Washington by September if this continues. Lord was also named Eastern League Pitcher-of-of-the-Month in May and June of last year and a postseason All-Star.

The best closer the Senators have had in the Nationals era is easy for me. This guy was a regular when I was an usher at Nats Parks. Drew Storen closed his rookie year in Harrisburg. He pitched in 10 games, with 1-0, nine saves, 12 2/3 IP, 12Ks, and a 0 ERA during 2009.

The receiver spot is much more difficult. The emphasis is on defense behind the plate. The most offensive catcher I found was Raudy Read of the 2017 club. You remember him. He was the prospect who was supposed to make Washington great again. That might not have happened, but Read caught 108 games, hit 25 doubles, 17 home runs, and 61 RBIs, and scored 44 runs.

Fielder options were much easier as players generally spent longer seasons at AA and generated better offensive numbers. Centerfielder Michael A. Taylor had a prolific season in 2014. The onetime Nats' fan favorite hit 0.313, hammered 22 dingers, drove in 61 runs, scored 74 times, and stole 34 bases. Taylor posted an On-Base Slugging percentage of 0.935.

Steven Souza Jr. manned right field for the Senators 77 games in 2013. He smashed 15 home runs, hit 0.300, stole 20 bases and recorded a 0.953 OPS. Souza Jr. is revered in Nats' lore for catching the final out in Jordan Zimmermann’s no-hitter on Sept. 28, 2014. Souza Jr. was in left field then. Taylor caught the penultimate out from center field.

Jose Marmolejos played left on a 2017 Harrisburg squad that featured a murders' row. It couldn't pitch for anything, but it had power. Marmolejos, who wasn't the Senators' best slugger, batted 0.288, added 14 homers, 66 RBIs, 68 runs, and posted an 0.810 OPS.

The corner infield selections are easy for this all-Senators team. The parent club once kept players in a position long enough to develop. When Tyler Moore went to first base in 2011, he stayed there. In the process, Moore clubbed 31 dingers, 90 RBIs, recorded 70 extra-base hits, hit 0.270, recorded an 0.846 OPS, and scored 70 runs. Moore was on first for the no-hitter. Similarly, Kory Casto slashed 0.272./0.847, with 20 homers, 80 RBIs and 84 runs from third base in 2006.

The purpose of being in Double-A is to develop and get promoted to Triple-A or perhaps MLB. The middle infielders in Harrisburg were these types of successes. Had the following or some of the previously mentioned, whose time at Harrisburg was cut short because of their success, their numbers would have been greater.

First, and this guy will probably be the answer to many baseball quiz questions, is shortstop Steven Lombardozzi. During his long infamous career, he played everywhere. But in 2010, Lombardozzi was the Senators' shortstop. He hit 0.295, with a 0.897 OPS before getting the call. Christopher Bostick knocked 25 extra-base hits, scored 34 runs, drove in 33 runs, batted 0.290 and posted an OPS of 0.819 before a midseason promotion in 2016.

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