Good Morning Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today December 13, 2023. The Nationals snagged left-handed reliever Dylan Floro, the Royals signed a bunch of pitchers, and the Giants finally signed a top talent. I’m sorry for the delayed briefing today, I had a final this morning and was focused on being ready for that. My name is Haden and let’s dive into the news.

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Leading today’s Morning Briefing: Nats sign right-handed reliever Floro to a one-year deal

The Nationals signed left-handed reliever Dylan Floro to a one-year, $2.25M deal, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Floro had a 4.76 ERA over 56.2 innings. While those numbers do not inspire confidence, his peripherals were great in 2023. He struck out batters at a career-high rate, and his walk rate and home run rate were both below his career average. By Fielding Independent Pitching, Floro’s 2.96 mark would be the best of Nationals pitchers, with Hunter Harvey’s 3.29 FIP being the next closest.

My take: The Nationals clearly hope that Floro’s under-the-hood numbers are closer to who he is than his results in 2023. Regardless if he is or not, Floro should offer Martinez another reliable pitcher for that main group of relievers at the back end of the bullpen.

Something to keep an eye on though, is how much the infield defense has improved. The Nationals have moved pretty heavily into relievers who post strong groundball rate numbers, with Jose. A Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan doing so with an offspeed pitch and Mason Thompson and Floro doing it with a sinker-slider combination. If CJ Abrams continues to improve as he did in the second half, while Luis García cleans up his mistakes, then the Nationals bullpen’s run-prevention will be considerably better than it was in 2023. If not, the Nationals will once again underperform their peripherals.

Around the MLB

The Kansas City Royals signed right-handed reliever Chris Stratton and right-handed starting pitcher Seth Lugo according to Anne Rogers of MLB.com. These moves add much-needed depth to a top-heavy Royals squad. With breakout ace Cole Ragans and solid mid-rotation arm Brady Singer in the middle of that rotation, Lugo adds crucial innings that would have otherwise gone to someone unproven or someone with a poor major league track record. Similarly, Stratton offers reliable, but unremarkable, middle innings for the Royals.

The Pittsburgh Pirates added first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez on a one-year, $3M deal according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Tellez is coming off a down year but was an above-average bat from 2020 to 2022.

The San Francisco Giants signed outfielder Jung Hoo Lee to a six-year, $113M deal, according to Jon Heyman. The Giants finally find someone willing to take their money after failing to sign Carlos Correa, Aaron Judge, and Shohei Ohtani. They likely are still looking to add another big piece to their roster as they look to jump the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks in the stacked WL West.

ICYMI: Latest articles on the Nats Report

Even though it is the offseason, we have been extremely busy producing a lot of great content here on the Nats Report. Here are just a couple of the articles that we have published recently that you might have missed:

• Perspective: Crafting a Team Identity
• The Nats Report’s Free Agency Wishlist
• Perspective: Juan Soto to Nats isn’t as Crazy as you Think.
• Perspective: When is Enough, Enough?
• Exploring the Impact of the Nationals Outfield on the Future

We are working on a lot of great Nationals-themed content all off-season so make sure that you are following us on all the major social media channels for the latest.

Featured Story of the Day

Perspectives

Perspective: Sorry Jon Heyman, it's not better for baseball that Ohtani signed with a marquee franchise.

Richard • Dec 11, 2023

Over the weekend, Shohei Ohtani secured the most substantial deal in North American professional sports history, leading Jon Heyman to assert that this is a positive development for baseball due to his signing with a "marquee baseball team." Heyman argued

Read full story →

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