Nats designate Chase Hampton for assignment

Hampton was previously claimed off waivers from the Yankees a couple of weeks ago. He was regarded as one of that team’s top prospects before undergoing Tommy John surgery in Feb. 2025. He returned to the mound in May, but he struggled mightily in posting an 8.18 ERA in 55 innings, which is why he’s bouncing around like this.

Washington’s front office will roll the dice on Hampton as a reclamation project after he was designated for assignment by the Yankees earlier this week. The 25-year-old starter was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball just a couple years ago before his promising career was derailed by elbow injuries. He’s a worthwhile low-risk gamble for the Nationals.

Hampton was one of New York’s brightest pitching prospect before an avalanche of elbow injuries derailed his trajectory. The 25-year-old has struggled to a disastrous 9.59 ERA across 11 starts for Double-A Somerset this season. Hampton is young enough that there could be another organization out there willing to roll the dice on him as a reclamation project.

As is often the case with early spring cuts, there are no surprises among this group. Hampton, 24, missed the entire 2025 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s one of the more prominent pitching prospects in the Yankees’ system though and will open the year at Double-A Somerset.

One of the most polarizing prospects in baseball, Jones combines top-of-the-scale raw power with abysmal contact skills. The 24-year-old slugging prospect is capable of making some serious noise, especially in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium, if he’s able to make enough contact to survive at the highest level. He’s the ultimate high-risk prospect for fantasy purposes. Rodríguez made a serious leap last season into one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, compiling a 2.58 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 176/57 K/BB ratio across 150 innings over 27 appearances (26 starts) between three levels.

Davis is the most notable inclusion among the first batch of cuts from Yankees camp. The 25-year-old former top prospect signed a minor league deal back in late December and will head to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open the year. Hampton is the other big name here as one of the more prominent pitching prospects in New York’s system. The 23-year-old righty will be sidelined for the next year-plus after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Hampton will miss all of the 2025 season, and the injury could mean he’s not ready for the start of the 2026 campaign, either. Hampton is regarded as one of the better prospects in the New York system, and while the injury is a setback, there’s still a chance he could be a helper for the Yankees in the latter part of the decade.

Hampton is back in New York to undergo further testing. The 23-year-old right-hander had the issue flare up on Friday, according to Boone. Hampton dealt with injuries last year as well, and there’s a good chance he’s going to miss significant time based on that early report.

Hampton made his long-awaited return to the upper minors on Friday night after a handful of rehab outings in the lower minors. The 22-year-old pitching prospect has been on the shelf since spring training recovering from a UCL sprain in his right elbow, so it’s a positive sign that he’s back in game action again. He’s extremely unlikely to ascend to the majors this season, but could wind up getting a look for New York at some point later next year.

Hampton was sidelined in spring training with a shoulder injury that was then later called a UCL sprain. The Yankees were tight-lipped about his injury back in March but it was revealed that he was given a PRP injection. At the time pitching coach Matt Blake claimed that he didn’t know if Hampton would be out longer than a few weeks. He has still not returned; however, he has been throwing live batting practice recently. The 22-year-old figures to return to the Double-A Somerset rotation after the All-Star break and could push for MLB innings, but it appears unlikely in 2024 unless the Yankees were to suffer a few injuries to their big league rotation.