Washington Nationals Reliable Rookie May Start Season in Minor Leagues
With just a week before the Washington Nationals complete spring training and head north for the beginning of the 2025 regular season, there are still a few things that the coaching staff and front office need to figure out.
The battle for the final bench spot has been hotly contested with several players making a strong case. Andres Chaparro heading to the injured list knocks it down to three players vying for one spot.
On the mound, the competition for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation has been going on since the outset of camp.
MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Trevor Williams and Michael Soroka have spots locked down.
Williams, who re-signed with the club on a two-year, $14 million deal, and Soroka, who agreed to a one-year, $9 million deal in free agency, both said upon signing their contracts that they were told they would be starters out of the gate.
That left one spot open for Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who came over to the MLB from Japan on a two-year, $3.5 million deal this winter, and the 2024 standout rookie duo of DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker.
No decision has been made about who will be the No. 5 starter, but from the sounds of it, Herz has played himself out of the race for the Opening Day roster spot.
He has not performed well in Grapefruit League outings this year, pitching 9.2 innings and allowing 10 hits with nine walks, resulting in nine runs (seven earned) being charged against him.
A 6.72 ERA and 1.966 WHIP are certainly not the kind of numbers anyone in a competition wants to put forth.
There has been a concerning drop in velocity for Herz this spring, which he attributes to a lack of adrenaline for exhibition games and something he has dealt with every year since the Chicago Cubs selected him in the 2019 MLB Draft.
As manager Davey Martinez said via Mark Zuckerman of MASN, there is a chance we don’t see the lefty in an official game the remainder of spring training with his work likely coming on a back field.
“Everything he does, all the reports we’re getting in the training room, (says) his strength’s good, everything’s good,” Martinez said. “Last year, and from talking to him, his velo is always down in spring training. He said he recovered a lot better, as far as fatigue and arm soreness, after his last outing. So he threw a good bullpen the other day. He was pleased, we were pleased. We’ll see what he does his next outing. But I told him 'Somehow, some way, we’ve got to get you up to about 85 pitches the next outing.'”
Herz was solid as a rookie, making 19 starts and throwing 88.2 innings with 106 strikeouts, a 4.16 ERA and 1.263 WHIP. His FIP of 3.71 hints that he was even better than his numbers suggest.
Most of his ratios, advanced stats and batted ball stats are all solid as well, as there is no doubt about the talent that he possesses. At this point, he appears to be one of the odd pitchers out in the competition and may end up back at Triple-A.
