Even When Ineligible, Nationals Keep ‘Winning’ MLB Draft Lottery

When it comes to the bounce of a ping pong ball, no team in baseball is luckier than the Nationals.

In the first MLB Draft lottery back in 2023, the Nationals won the second pick. Their numbers came up again four draws later. So, the Nationals won 2 of the 8 draws. They picked outfielder Dylan Crews with the No. 2 pick.

A year later, the Nationals were ineligible to win because they had been a lottery pick the previous year. But with the way the draft lottery works, teams that are ineligible or already picked continue to have their lottery ball numbers picked. And as luck would have it, Washington saw its numbers come up with the first draw. If eligible, they would have won the No. 1 pick.

With the lottery for the 2025 MLB Draft, the Nationals were eligible once again. And they won again. This time, high school shortstop Eli Willits was their choice.

That brings us all the way to the lottery conducted Tuesday for the 2026 MLB Draft. As they were in 2024, the Nationals were ineligible for a lottery pick.

But try telling that to the ping pong balls.

The Nationals saw their numbers called with the second draw. And again with the fifth, sixth and ninth draws. They weren’t eligible, but the Nationals’ ping pong ball combinations kept trying to win.

If not for the rules meant to limit big-market teams from picking in the lottery year after year, the Nationals would have picked second, first, first and second in the first four lottery-era drafts.

Picking No. 2 and No. 1 in a four-draft span is their consolation prize.