Nationals Could Have Budding Bullpen Star With Recent Waiver Acquisition
The Washington Nationals are a team built around their young core primarily, with a few key veterans thrown into the mix to provide versatility and experience. This has been done through a blend of trade acquisitions, draft selections, waiver claims, and free agency signings, showing a team can be built in various ways.
One of the players who has begun to show his talent is reliever Eduardo Salazar, who was brought in by the Nationals last season as a waiver claim in June from the Seattle Mariners.
In his half-season with the Nationals in 2024, he played 25 games and 27.1 innings, posting a 2.96 ERA, 1.573 WHIP, 24 strikeouts to 12 walks, and only gave up two home runs.
He struggled immensely in his debut season with the Cincinnati Reds however, accruing a 8.03 ERA in 12.1 innings. This led to him signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season on a minor league deal, where he would only get a few opportunities before being designated for assignment in May.
Washington capitalized on this, claiming him off waivers and reaping the benefits of his development. Now, in 2025, they have started to see his success once again, as during spring training he has begun to show not only signs of this development, but elite talent.
Aside from a tough performance on March 23, where he would allow four earned runs and six hits in 0.2 innings pitched, he has been spectacular. In his eight previous appearances, he pitched 8.2 innings, picking up 13 strikeouts to only two walks, with a 0.00 ERA and only six hits allowed.
Unfortunately that streak of really high quality performances came to an end, but ultimately he did an exceptional job all spring long, and just ended up having one poor performance tagged onto the end of his statline. These things happen when players are trying new things throughout the spring, and Salazar was no exception.
The Nationals bullpen has had an exceptional amount of turnover compared to last season too, with Jorge López, Lucas Sims, and Colin Poche expected to make the bullpen having been recent offseason acquisitions.
Additionally, Shinnosuke Ogasawara will start out the year in the minor leagues, but he is someone to watch for throughout the year as a call up candidate.
Salazar will more than likely be there on the Opening Day roster for 2025, and with that, he will have the opportunity to work with some veteran pieces and improve his game to start off the year.
