Josh Randall: The Nationals’ New Arm with a Big-League Goal

Editor’s Note: Be sure to read the full interview transcript exclusively for Nats Report+ subscribers

WILMINGTON, DE - It was the morning of July 31, 2025. The Washington Nationals, with just a few hours before the season’s trade deadline, still had quite a few veteran players to ship off to teams with immediate championship hopes. One of those pieces was the team’s longest-tenured star, closer Kyle Finnegan. As fans held their breaths at the sound of each notification, one finally came through. The Nationals had traded Finnegan to the Detroit Tigers for pitchers R.J. Sales and Josh Randall. Now, just two weeks later, the 22-year-old Randall sat down with The Nats Report to reflect on his transition to the Nationals organization, how he got to this point, and his future goals.

“It has actually been a really easy transition. I think that the people we have in this organization, and the guys that we have on the team, they make it really easy to come in and be yourself,” Randall said. “They are super welcoming. I mean from day one I shook everyone’s hand, and talked to the other guys. They’re all super cool.”

Randall, who was drafted by the Tigers in the third round just last year, actually played on the Nationals in Little League as a child. His organic love for the game stems from his time growing up, when he was exposed to it in one of the best ways possible.

“I grew up in Northern California in the East Bay, so I grew up in the time when the Giants won their three world series in the early 2010s, and so baseball was always on the TV from a young age,” Randall said. “No one in my family ever played it, but it was just always the sport that I gravitated to. In T-ball or early on in little league, I'd take the team catcher's gear home and I would just play around in my backyard with the catcher's gear on. I always just had this really organic love for baseball for just whatever reason. And I feel like I'm still a 10-year-old kid out there at times when I'm playing the game. I feel like that's what it's all about at the end of the day. And so yeah, I just grew a really deep love for it.”

As a prospect in baseball, when July rolls around, it becomes hard to ignore the noise from not only baseball media, but everyone in the sports world. It was no different for Randall, who had just been moved to High-A in Detroit’s organization. However, he was excited by the idea of new opportunities, whether they were with the Tigers or another team.

“I think that when the big league club of the organization you're in has a chance to make a deep run in the playoffs as a prospect, there's always a chance that you could get moved,” Randall said. And so early on, you kind of just know that it's part of the business, and so part of your mind is looking forward to the rest of the season with the current organization. On the flip side, you also have to be ready to move at a moment's notice. And so with that being said, I knew there was a definite chance, given the Tigers' aggressive approach going into the deadline, as they tried to make moves to help the team reach the playoffs. And so once I got that phone call, it was pretty much like, okay, here we go. This is what you sign up for. So it was exciting.”

The idea of changing teams was also not new for the 6’4” righty. Having played for Arizona in the Pac-12 and San Diego in the West Coast Conference last year, Randall had already been exposed to a lot of different styles from both coaches and players. While that can be a lot for players, there has always been a constant to help him through it.

“It's everything when you could have a group of people in your inner circle that are just so supportive because it makes it a lot easier to go through things like this,” Randall said. “Even growing up, my parents always gave me the resources that I needed to be successful or go seek the coaching and expertise that I needed. And I'm super blessed and thankful to God that he gave me the type of parents that I have and the people around me. And so it's huge in times like this, you need to be able to lean on people that have your back and have your best interest in mind. And it just makes all this go a lot smoother, to be honest.”

Every starting pitcher has a long road ahead of them on every start day. They know they are in for a battle, and every single one handles it differently. Randall, however, takes a very interesting approach and does his best to stay grounded each time he takes the mound to keep going at his best.

“For me it's that someone paid money to come to a baseball field that day to watch me play,” Randall said. “So I need to then in turn give them the best that I have on that given day. And so I think that's what fuels me, that's what drives me. You can't get caught up on any certain pitch, good or bad. You always have to move on to the next one and there's always the next one after it. And so for me it's like, alright, I executed this pitch on to the next one. Good or bad, give up a homer. Awesome. I still have another pitch … Can't dwell on any result, good or bad, but someone paid money to come watch me play and so I'm going to give them the best possible show that I can.”

“It's really meaningful to have an organization that believes so much in you the way that the Nationals do, and they traded away a really quality human being in Kyle Finnegan,” Randall said. “And so for me, there's no added pressure that comes with that, but there is a standard that he left in place with the way he carried himself. And so in a way I feel like it's up to me to uphold that and continue it because just from everything that I've read, he was loved by his teammates, loved by the fans, and meant a lot to everyone that came to Nationals Park. And so for me, I need to make sure that I'm maintaining that same level of respect … because of everything that he meant here and what I'm going to bring to this organization now.”

While every trade has value to an organization, it is not every day that you see someone as impactful as Finnegan get moved. The closer ranked second all-time in the team’s history for saves and was loved by Washington’s fans. For Randall, that all adds extra motivation.