It's easy to forget that Eli Willits will spend the entirety of his first full season as a professional at 18 years old.
It's even easier to forget how good he already is and how easy he makes the game look, until of course, he reminds you.
Last year's first overall Draft pick has found his groove for Single-A Fredericksburg, filling up the box score with a pair of hits, three RBIs and two stolen bases in his the F-Nats' 14-4 win over Salem on Friday night at Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark.
After getting off to a 5-for-36 (.139) start, the Nats' No. 1 prospect has turned on the jets -- literally and figuratively. Willits has hit safely in nine of his past 10 games with five multihit performances in that stretch to get back on track, punctuated by his big night against the Ridge Yaks.
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MLB's No. 10 prospect opened the game with a line-drive double to left to extend his hitting streak to six games. Willits kicked off the Nats' run-scoring bonanza with an RBI single in the third and swiped his first bag of the evening.
Although he did not collect another hit, the son of former big leaguer Reggie Willits walked twice -- once with the bases loaded -- and capped Fredericksburg's scoring with an RBI groundout in the ninth. It marked his first three-RBI game as a pro.
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Willits has reached safely in 10 consecutive games and is slashing .341/.491/.610 in that span. The teenage shortstop leads the Carolina League with 16 stolen bases and is second in walks (17) and tied for second in runs (20) across 19 games.
Despite his age and inexperience, Willits got a chance to play for the big league club in Spring Training, getting into one game in late February. Although he was hitless in two at-bats, he impressed first-year Nats skipper Blake Butera.
"A year ago, he was playing in high school, and now here he is in our first Major League [spring] game at home," Butera said. "I think just for him to have the calmness up there, he was in total control in the box."