The Washington Nationals pitching staff went through a lot of changes when long-time pitchers like Patrick Corbin and Kyle Finnegan headed to free agency. While the starting rotation had a vacant spot with Trevor Williams departure as a free agent, general manager Mike Rizzo brought Williams back on a new 2-year deal. And Rizzo also signed two more free agent starters, a free agent reliever, and a Rule-5 reliever when he inked RHP Michael Soroka ($9MM), LHP Shinnosuke Ogasawara ($2.1MM with posting fee), Rule-5 reliever Evan Reifert ($860K with the Rule-5 fee), and reliever Jorge Lopez ($3.0MM).
The Nationals finished the 2024 season with starting rotation spots filled by MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, DJ Herz, and Mitchell Parker. While Gore and Irvin look like locks for the Opening Day starting rotation, Herz, Ogasawara, Parker, Soroka, and Williams will compete for the final three spots in the starting rotation.
While Soroka had been a starter for the White Sox last year, he struggled and was sent to the bullpen where he turned in some impressive numbers. Even so, Rizzo promised Soroka that he was being signed as a starter. Ogasawara and Williams got the same assurances. But that is seven starters for five spots. There will be a competition with Rizzo saying that he expects some starters to begin March and April in the Nats bullpen, presumably for long-relief.
On top of that, Joan Adon, Andrew Alvarez, Cade Cavalli, Andry Lara, Brad Lord, Jackson Rutledge, and Tyler Stuart should enter 2025 at the top of the minor league depth or possibly a bullpen spot on the MLB roster. Cavalli and Rutledge, both former Nats’ first round picks, are on the 40-man roster. Adon was removed recently. Daison Acosta, Adon, Marquis Grissom Jr., Clay Helvey, Lord, Konnor Pilkington, Jack Sinclair, Stuart, and Jarlin Susana all received non-roster invitations (NRI) to big league camp in Spring Training. One pitcher who was left off of the invite list was Alvarez.
We expect both Josiah Gray and Mason Thompson to start the season on the 60-day IL list as both recover from UCL elbow surgery.
Opening Day Starting Rotation
This is a guess on the starting rotation with Gore as the Opening Day starter:
- MacKenzie Gore LHP
- Jake Irvin RHP
- Shinnosuke Ogasawara LHP
- Trevor Williams RHP
- Michael Soroka RHP
Opening Day bullpen
The bullpen could certainly go through some transformations as the team expects that they will have some starters in the bullpen to start the season. At some point, you would expect those starters to join the Triple-A roster. Zach Brzykcy RHP, Orlando Ribalta RHP, and Eduardo Salazar are all on the 40-man roster and will all compete for vacant bullpen spots along with the NRIs.
- Jorge Lopez RHP
- Jose A. Ferrer LHP
- Derek Law RHP
- Evan Reifert RHP (Rule-5)
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD Long-Man
- TBD Long-Man
Much of the pitching roster is up in the air with a competition across the board. It is also possible that the team could sign additional free agent relief pitchers. Let’s hope for that!
