Nationals Boss Announces When He’ll Reveal Opening Day Roster
The Washington Nationals were supposed to play an exhibition game at Nationals Park on Monday against the Baltimore Orioles.
But the game was rained out. The biggest piece of news from a Nationals perspective was long-time TV play-by-play broadcaster Bob Carpenter announced that 2025 would be his final season on the mic during the game’s broadcast on MASN.
Now Washington gets its two days off before Thursday’s opening day contest against the Philadelphia Phillies, which is set for 4:05 p.m. eastern.
As it turns out, the Nationals will wait until gameday to announce the opening day roster.
The Washington Post’s Andrew C. Golden reported after the rainout that Nats manager Davey Martinez said the team would wait until Thursday. He also said that he and general manager Mike Rizzo want to huddle up on the final configuration of the 26-man roster.
In some respects, there isn’t much drama. The starting rotation is locked in, with MacKenzie Gore set to take the baseball on Thursday. The rest of the rotation will be made up of Jake Irvin, Michael Soroka, Michell Parker and Trevor Williams.
The Nationals sent down D.J. Herz and Shinnosuke Ogasawara over the weekend, who were the remaining candidates for the rotation. It’s possible both could be back at some point this season. Herz made the rotation as a rookie and Ogasawara is a rookie with international experience in Japan.
The return of Kyle Finnegan, who signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the Nationals after an All-Star season in 2024, gives the bullpen the necessary backbone. He retired the final seven hitters he faced in an abbreviated spring training and the expectation is that he will be part of the opening day roster.
One pitcher that isn’t expected to be on the opening day roster is Derek Law, a reliable reliever from a season ago who has been dealing with shoulder issues during spring training. He is expected to open the season on the injured list.
MASN, in reporting the Herz and Ogasawara moves, reported that the final roster spots among position players would come down to back-up catcher and the final position player spot.
Washington sent Drew Millas to the minors, leaving Riley Adams and Andrew Knizner to compete to back-up Keibert Ruiz. As for that last position player spot, MASN reported it was likely down to Jose Tena and Juan Yepez.
