Washington Nationals Rising Pitching Prospect Preparing for Key Outing
The Washington Nationals enter the final week of spring training trying to flesh out the remaining roles on their team.
Notably, that’s the bullpen. The Nationals didn’t make flashy moves in the offseason and managed to luck into bringing back last year’s closer, Kyle Finnegan, on a cheaper deal after releasing him suddenly in November.
Entering this spring training, the goal for starting pitcher Brad Lord was to get him some more work with the Major League team before sending him back to the minor leagues.
Well, it’s possible that could change. But, to make it happen, Lord will have to do something new. On Tuesday, he’ll get that chance.
Lord threw a spotless inning of relief in Monday’s spring training game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He struck out one. Ordinarily, the 25-year-old right-hander would take Tuesday off.
But not this time. The Washington Post’s Spencer Nusbaum reported that manager Davey Martinez will bring Lord back on Tuesday to see how he might react to pitching on back-to-back days.
Starters don’t do that, and Lord has been looked at as a starter since he joined the organization as an 18th round in 2022. That may not be the case anymore.
Martinez indicated to the Post “… that Lord has a real shot to pitch out of the bullpen as a multi-inning guy.”
To be able to do that, Lord would have to prove that he can be effective in back-to-back outings. Long relievers tend not to do that often. But there could be times where Lord might pitch an inning in back-to-back games in a role like that, depending on the matchup.
What’s driving this? The Post reported that Lord’s velocity, per TruMedia, is up from a year ago in the minor leagues. Where his fastball averaged 96.4 mph last campaign at Triple-A Rochester, it’s now up to 98 mph this spring.
He made excellent progress last season, which allowed him to rise to become the organization’s No. 24 prospect entering this season, per MLB Pipeline.
He started the season at High-A Wilmington but was promoted to both Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester, starting 12 games at both affiliates.
His overall numbers got everyone’s attention in the organization — 10-4 with a 2.43 ERA in 25 starts, with 135 strikeouts and 49 walks in 129.2 innings. He even managed a complete-game shutout, a rarity in the minor leagues.
His numbers were tremendous at Harrisburg — 8-1 with a 1.40 ERA — but they were solid at Rochester, where he went 2-3 with a 3.93 ERA.
