Nats draft HS shortstop Willits with No. 1 pick

ATLANTA -- The Washington Nationals made a surprising selection with the No. 1 overall pick on Sunday, drafting high school shortstop Eli Willits, the son of former major league outfielder Reggie Willits.

The Nationals, navigating a major organizational shakeup over the last seven days, had been widely expected to draft either Ethan Holliday, another high school infielder, or LSU left-hander Kade Anderson.

The Los Angeles Angels selected Tyler Bremner, a 6-foot-2 right-hander from UC Santa Barbara, with the No. 2 overall pick, which represented the highest the team had selected in the draft since 1997.

Anderson went to the Seattle Mariners with the No. 3 pick, while Holliday, the son of former outfielder Matt Holliday and brother of current Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jackson Holliday, went to the Colorado Rockies at No. 4.

Willits led Fort Cobb-Broxton High School in Oklahoma to their third straight title this past season and had previously committed to Oklahoma. A 6-foot-1 switch-hitter, Willits is hailed for his bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline and is considered a strong defensive shortstop.

The slot value for the No. 1 pick is a record $11,075,900 this year.

It was only a week ago that the Nationals fired general manager Mike Rizzo, who was in his 17th year atop baseball operations and had a big hand in selecting Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in the other times that the franchise held the No. 1 pick -- in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Nationals manager Davey Martinez was also fired last week.

Bremnar sits at 93 to 96 mph with his fastball, while also boasting a changeup and slider, and posted a 3.49 ERA with a Big West-leading 111 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings this season.

Anderson was named Most Outstanding Player at this year's College World Series, going 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in two starts in Omaha. Prior to that, he led Division I with 180 strikeouts and 119 innings and was a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, following in the success of former LSU Tiger and last year's No. 1 pick, Paul Skenes.

Meant to be 💜 pic.twitter.com/Ua1T5h3xT6

Holliday, the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year, batted .611 with 19 homers, a 1.295 slugging percentage and a 2.038 OPS in his senior year at Stillwater High School in Oklahoma. Holliday projects to play either shortstop or third base.

The draft is 20 rounds for the fifth straight time this year, with Rounds 1 to 3, representing the first 105 picks, taking place on Monday.