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Fixing the Nationals’ pitching staff is high on the offseason to-do list.
Washington needs to add veterans to the bullpen and figure out the rotation beyond staff ace Cade Cavalli. Most of the upgrades will likely come from outside the organization, but evaluating the current arms to project who can help next year’s roster is also of importance.
The team also has a triumvirate of pitchers nearing returns from long stints on the injured list.
Washington is getting encouraging reports on DJ Herz, Josiah Gray and Connelly Early, all of whom are nearing a return to the majors. Herz will continue his rehab in the majors, and the plan is for him to throw two bullpen sessions before the organization discusses if he’s ready for a major league game.
Early pitched Tuesday at Triple-A Rochester and allowed three runs on two hits, with two walks and two strikeouts in one inning. The team would need to clear room for him on the 40-man roster.
“It’s a good problem to have,” manager Blake Butera said before Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to the Phillies. “End of the day, we’re getting some guys healthy, some guys that you guys want to see and hear about and talk about, of course. I think we’re all excited for that, but we’re also trying to be as responsible as possible, knowing that, you know, our season ends 10 games from now, and understanding what makes the most sense in terms of who needs to get up here, who would we like to get up here.”
So when Jared Simpson, who opened Wednesday’s game after Butera announced the Nationals were pushing back Cavalli’s start day, allowed two runs and walked four batters in one-third of an inning, the bullpen had to cover more innings than Butera likely envisioned. Simpson’s max was likely going to be three innings, but his ineffectiveness forced Butera to pull him to keep the game in reach.
It pushed Riley Cornelio, who has seen his ERA drop from 5.96 at the start of the month to 4.45 after an impressive stretch in September, enter into a bases-loaded jam. He struck out J.T. Realmuto and induced a flyout from Brandon Marsh to keep the deficit at two.
In the seventh, right-hander Luis Perales entered with a runner on second — which he hadn’t had experience with in the minors.
Perales walked Alec Bohm on seven pitches but induced an inning-ending double play that gave the Washington offense more time to see if it could muster anything against Zack Wheeler. But Perales faltered toward the end of his outing, finishing with five walks and two strikeouts.
“I think it’s more on the mental side,” Perlaes said through an interpreter. “Nobody wants to throw balls. Everyone wants to be in the strike zone. Walking the first batter, that affects me a little bit more.”
Perales, Cornelio and Will Dion figure to be pieces of the pitching puzzle next season.
“You’re balancing the needs versus the wants, and then you’re also balancing making sure the guys in the clubhouse are like, is he coming to take my spot, right? So I want to be really, you know, conscious about these guys in the clubhouse, and then also obviously paying close attention to what our rehab guys are doing with DJ and JoJo and Connelly.”
With the loss, the Nationals (71-82) clinched a losing record. But these remaining nine games are important in the development of the team’s young players, particularly the pitchers. On Wednesday, each pitcher besides Richard Lovelady was a rookie. Perales and righty flamethrower Yovanny Cruz showcased their elite velocity. Now it’s on the team to help them harness it.
It took Cruz a reset at Rochester before being recalled and resembling the pitcher the organization thought it was getting at the trade deadline.
“These guys that we ran out there, I think, have good stuff,” Butera said. “They have to believe in that stuff, and they have to understand that you got to attack hitters.”
That belief will only come with experience. In less than a month since making his major league debut, Perales has faced the Dodgers, Phillies and Padres, three veteran teams with hitters who know how to work an at-bat. For Perales — and any of the Nationals’ rookie pitchers — that experience is paramount for the 2027 season.
“The more we can get them out there, the more innings they can get under their belts, it’s only going to help going forward,” Butera said.
This article has been updated.
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