Former Coveted Washington Nationals Draft Pick Gets Claimed off Waivers
The Washington Nationals have plenty of decisions to make this winter, and one of their early ones saw them outright a few of their established players and activate multiple off the 60-day injured list to start constructing their 40-man roster.
Ideally, the return of Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli would allow this front office to not spend money on starting pitching this cycle to see if more arms can emerge as future cornerstones behind Mackenzie Gore.
Someone they thought could be that guy for them was Thaddeus Ward.
Once a fifth-round pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2018, the right-hander was named that organization's minor league pitcher of the year during his first full season of professional baseball a year after he was drafted.
The future looked bright for Ward, and when the Red Sox didn't protect him ahead of the 2022 Rule 5 draft, the Nationals swooped in and took him first overall to bring him into their pipeline. But because they had to keep him on the 40-man roster for the entire 2023 campaign, they had to play him before he was ready, which resulted in a 6.37 ERA across his 26 outings.
His performance wasn't too much to be concerned about since that regularly happens with Rule 5 draft picks, but during this past year when he solely pitched for their Triple-A affiliate, Ward posted a 5.64 ERA across his 28 starts.
Now, the former coveted draft pick is down the road with the Baltimore Orioles after they claimed him off waivers by that team's official social media page.
It will be interesting to see what role he has in that organization.
Throughout Ward's entire minor league career in Boston and Washington, he was a starting pitcher, but when he was used at the Major League level in 2023, the Nationals had him come out of the bullpen.
