Washington Nationals Must Bring Back Massively Underrated Veteran Starter
The Washington Nationals don't have a ton of free agents leaving the team that they are going to rush to bring back, but there should be at least one veteran on the docket.
Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly overviewed the top free agency that each MLB team should re-sign. For the Nationals, he landed on bringing back starting pitcher Trevor Williams.
"Williams missed more than three months this past season with a right flexor muscle strain. But he returned to make two starts at the end of the season, and was tremendous across the 13 total starts he made in 2024, posting a 2.03 ERA," said Kelly. "As Washington tries to return to the postseason for the first time since 2019, Williams. is a piece they should bring back.
Williams was brought over from the New York Mets after the 2022 season. He had shown flashes of talent early on in his career but had some real struggles from 2019-2021.
His first season with the Nationals saw him go back to struggling with a 5.55 ERA and 1.60 WHIP. It seemed as though his time with the team was going to be spent mostly as an innings eater.
While his 2023 was filled with injuries, he was pitching better than he ever had before when healthy.
The 32-year-old stopped throwing his cutter, cut down on the velocity of all of his pitches and starting to use his slider more.
His changes worked, though. He was walking fewer batters and surrendering noticeably less hits.
The only other two players headed to free agency are expected to be Joey Gallo and Patrick Corbin.
Gallo technically has a deal that includes next season, but there is a mutual option that is expected to be taken.
The veteran slugger posted just a .161/.277/.336 slashing line last season in 76 games. A reunion doesn't make much sense for either party.
Corbin has been with the Nationals since 2019, but it looks like it is just time for both sides to move on.
He was given a massive contract out of free agency and had an okay first season in Washington. Since then, however, he has struggled mightily. He's led the NL in losses three times in the past four seasons and has a 5.71 ERA in that span.
Of those three, Williams is the only one that it really makes sense to bring back. Washington needs more starting pitching and the veteran seems to have found something that works there.
