Washington Nationals 2025 Season

THE LEAD

Friends, this bullpen is rough. Having climbed out of the cellar in regards to bullpen ERA recently (thanks, Angels!), the Nats went right back in the tank yesterday, as their relievers coughed up 13 of Cleveland’s 18 runs across the two games. I will keep repeating it until I am blue in the face; ownership’s refusal to spend money on the active roster and Mike Rizzo’s track record at building bullpens are a terrible combination. Six of the eight relievers who pitched yesterday surrendered at least a run, and one of the two (Andrew Chafin and Jackson Rutledge) who escaped with a clean sheet allowed both of their inherited runners to score (Rutledge). This simply cannot go on all season, or the rest of the team will be demoralized (witness the 2021 team falling apart down the stretch after the Great Fire Sale, when the bullpen door would swing open and out would come a Gabe Klobotsits or a Sam Clay or an Alberto Baldonado (or a Kyle Finnegan, who has been the exact same pitcher for most of his career). The Lerners will probably be unwilling to cut bait this soon on a $3 million mop-up arm like Lucas Sims (currently sporting an ERA north of 12.00 and a WHIP just a whisker under 2.00), but Sálazar (9.77, 2.23) simply has to be optioned as soon as a warm body with two arms, two legs, and a head is available.

What looks like will be the end result is that Sálazar will be optioned tomorrow to make room for the return of Michael Soroka to the bullpen, pushing Brad Lord back to the bullpen, which is a shame. Lord threw a quality start for the first time in his major league career yesterday (he ripped off ten in a row last spring for AA Harrisburg), and although it was marred by a Carlos Santana three-run bomb in the sixth, he is now fully stretched out (he threw 93 pitches yesterday) and has proven that he is a better option than Trevor Williams, who really would be best deployed doing something like pitching two to three innings twice a week. But Williams makes $7 million not just this year but next also, and that is probably too much money for ownership to stomach going to a non-closing reliever. So back to the bullpen goes the promising rookie who might be the organization’s most unlikely developmental success story since they moved to Washington. But we are supposed to believe that “now is the time to hit the gas.”

 Washington Nationals 2025 Season

Game Recap

The Nationals played two games yesterday, but you might be forgiven for thinking that the only person who was aware of that fact was Lord. The Nats went back and forth with the Guardians in the opener, taking a 3-2 lead in the third thanks to a screamer from James Wood into the Nats’ bullpen with CJ Abrams aboard and later expanding that lead to 6-2. And then the seventh inning happened. The bad version of Jose A. Ferrer showed up, with five of the six Guardians he was allowed to face reaching base (two of them waited to score until after he departed). Now trailing 8-6, the Nats lit into elite Cleveland setup man Cade Smith and his successor, Hunter Gaddis, for four runs in their half of the inning, with José Tena delivering the big blow with a two-run double. Kyle Finnegan (barely) made that rally stand up in the ninth, allowing a run but recording his 100th career save*, all with the Nationals.

Tied with Mike Fetters, Billy Taylor, and Joel Hanrahan.

The nightcap, however, was another matter. Although Lord pitched well, quite well before his sixth and final inning, the Nats managed no offense apart from Riley Adams’ second homer of the season over the out-of-town scoreboard, and the bullpen added six further runs to pad the Guardians’ margin. Let’s just say it was forgettable.

 STORY TYPE

Help Is On The Way?

The AA Harrisburg Senators romped over Richmond 19-0 yesterday, and in light of that one-game domination it’s worth looking at what minor leaguers might spend some time in DC this summer. Third baseman Brady House is the most obvious candidate, and reliever Marquis Grissom Jr. if he rights the ship after his recent promotion from Harrisburg to AAA Rochester (hey, someone has to pitch in the bullpen, right?). Beyond those two…Robert Hassell III? Daylen Lile? Andrew Pinckney? Yohandy Morales? Jack Sinclair? Bueller?

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 WHAT WE THINK THE NATIONALS FRONT OFFICE IS READING

Speed Reads

📌 John Oliver Offers to Rebrand MiLB Team(s) (Sports Illustrated)

📌 Ohtani First to 10-10 (Yahoo!)

📌 Analyzing Judge’s Place in Modern History (The Athletic)