The majority of the shopping in a quiet Nationals offseason appears to be finished. General manager Mike Rizzo informed the team’s beat writers on Wednesday that the Nats are unlikely to bring in any more free agents on guaranteed contracts before Opening Day (X link via Andrew Golden of the Washington Post). It is still possible that they will add some experienced players on minor league deals with invitations to spring training.
Rizzo’s remarks seem to rule out any significant late additions to a Nationals team that has been exploring the starting pitching market. “I just couldn’t find that starting pitcher who would have a significant impact on us at this time, both in terms of the length of the contract and the salary,” Rizzo said on Wednesday (via MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman).
During this offseason, the Nationals have only signed three players to major league contracts, none of which exceed Joey Gallo’s $5 million (as seen in MLBTR’s Contract Tracker). In addition to Gallo, the Nats have signed relief pitcher Dylan Floro and infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel to one-year deals worth $2.3 million and $2 million, respectively. They have also added outfielder Jesse Winker, lefty Richard Bleier, and first baseman/outfielder Juan Yepez on minor league contracts this winter.
As it stands, the Nationals’ rotation will consist of Patrick Corbin, Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, and Trevor Williams. This group started all but 19 of Washington’s games in 2023, with Chad Kuhl, Joan Adon, and Jackson Rutledge starting the rest. In that season, the Nationals ranked 25th in the Majors with a 5.02 ERA and 29th in FIP (5.30), SIERA (4.95), and K-BB% (9.7%).
The Nats are surely hoping for improved performances from young starters like Gore and Gray, both of whom were highly regarded prospects before making their MLB debuts. Both pitchers posted decent ERAs with average fielding-independent metrics, largely due to below-average walk rates and, in Gore’s case, struggles with home runs. Gore is the only Nationals starter who had an above-average strikeout rate in 2023 (26%). Corbin and Williams are the only two who had better-than-average walk rates (7.2% and 8%, respectively).
Washington also has several promising arms on the rise, including Rutledge, lefty DJ Herz, and right-hander Cade Cavalli. Cavalli would likely have been in the Nats’ rotation in 2023 if not for a spring elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.
Rizzo did not provide much of an update on Cavalli, other than the fact that his rehabilitation is progressing well. A return in early summer seems to be the best-case scenario for the hard-throwing 25-year-old, and Zuckerman notes that he aims to be MLB-ready sometime in June.
Rutledge pitched 20 innings in his debut last year after posting solid run-prevention numbers between Double-A and Triple-A, although his command was subpar. Herz, acquired from the Cubs in exchange for Jeimer Candelario, recorded a 3.43 ERA in 22 Double-A starts last year, striking out an impressive 32.4% of his opponents. However, he also struggled with command issues, walking opponents at a concerning rate of 13.9%.
On the bullpen front, the Nats may be without at least one candidate early in the season. Manager Davey Martinez stated on Wednesday that right-hander Mason Thompson will be shut down for the next two weeks due to an elbow injury (X link via Golden). Martinez admitted that the team is “a little concerned” about the issue but declined to provide further details.
Thompson, who turns 26 next week, has spent the majority of the past three seasons with the Nationals, pitching 100 1/3 innings with a 4.57 ERA, a 17.8% strikeout rate, a 10% walk rate, and a 50.6% ground-ball rate.
According to the Source mlbtraderumors.com