Washington Nationals Pitching Prospect Riding Wave to Potential Promotion
The Washington Nationals have one of the youngest starting rotations in baseball. The goal this offseason has to be finding some veteran leadership to replace Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams.
Well, don’t tell that to Brad Lord, who may be in line to make the National’s rotation even younger next season.
The right-hander is seen by some as the next young starting pitcher in the organization after a meteoric rise last year that saw him get all the way to Triple-A Rochester. He may not be ready by Opening Day, but that didn’t slow down DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker, a pair of left-handers who started 2024 in the minors but ended up combining for nearly 50 starts in the Nationals’ rotation last season.
Per MLB Pipeline, Lord sees the pair as a sort of inspiration.
“That is definitely motivation,” Lord said recently. “You turn on the game and watch, and they’re going six, seven innings every outing. Not necessarily super-high draft picks, too. So for a guy like me, that really motivates me.”
Lord didn’t get the kind of respect Herz or Parker got in the draft. He was an 18th-round pick out of USF in 2022. Not much clicked in 2023 as he never got past High-A Wilmington.
All of that changed in 2024.
Between Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, he went a combined 10-4 with a 2.43 ERA with 135 strikeouts and 49 walks in 129.2 innings.
While he dominated at Harrisburg (8-1, 1.40 ERA in 12 starts), he held his own with Rochester. In 12 starts he went 2-3 with a 3.12 ERA.
Among Washington minor league pitchers he led all of them in ERA, opponent’s batting average (.224) and winning percentage (.714). He also ranked second in wins, WHIP (1.20), strikeouts (135), starts and innings pitched (129 2/3). Lord garnered Eastern League Pitcher of the Month honors for June and July.
Is it enough to get Lord in the rotation with Herz and Parker? He’ll surely get a shot in spring training and both of the rookies put together encouraging stat lines in 2024.
Herz, a former eighth-round pick in 2019 with the Chicago Cubs, made his debut last season and ended up making 19 starts. He went 4-9 with a 4.16 ERA. The left-hander struck out 106 and walked 36 in 88.2 innings.
Parker, another left-hander, didn’t make the Opening-Day roster but was promoted a couple of weeks later. The Nationals’ fifth-round pick in 2020 ended up going 7-10 with a 4.29 ERA with 133 strikeouts and 43 walks in 151 innings.
