Washington Nationals Veteran Pitcher Should Be Considered for Teams Future Plans
The Washington Nationals will have some decisions to make about their pitching staff as they head into the offseason to prepare for the 2025 season.
Although the team has moved to a youth movement with roster construction over the past few seasons, one of the Nationals veterans is worth considering for bringing back for another campaign.
Washington’s right hander Trevor Williams has had an up and down season due to injury. However, when the 32-year-old is on the mound, he has shown All-Star caliber stuff for the rebuilding Nats. It’s most likely the case that if Williams were healthy at the time, he would probably be on another team due to Washington being ‘sellers’ at the MLB Trade Deadline. Since there were no suitors, Mike Rizzo and the rest of the Nationals front office should think about adding him to the teams future plans.
On Friday, Williams returned after being out for nearly four months with a Right flexor muscle strain. Before being placed on the injured list at the begining of June, Williams was one pace to having his best season in his nine year MLB career. Across 11 starts, the 32 year old posted a 5-0 record with a 2.22 ERA. The Nationals were 9-2 across his 11 appearances. The former Arizona State Sun Devil returned to Wrigley Field on Friday after pitching for the Chicago Cubs for half of the 2021 season.
Williams picked right up where he left off in his return to the rotation as he went five strong innings allowing only one run on three hits. He recorded seven strikeouts and did not allow a walk on the day.
His only blunder was a home run to Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson on the second plate appearance of the game.
The veteran pitcher will become a free agent at the end of the year after signing a two-year, $13M contract before the 2023 season. Although he is not known for high velocity, which most organizations are looking to move towards, Williams has continued to do precisely what is needed from him: record outs.
With the team building an impressive young core including names like Mackenzie Gore and DJ Herz, a player such as Williams could be inserted anywhere in the rotation to not only help you control the workload of some of the younger guys in the rotation, but also remain competitive in one of the toughest divisions in all of baseball.
The main concern with relying on a guy like Trevor Williams will most likely be staying healthy after missing a significant amount of time this past season. However, if Washington believes that he can be an asset for them moving forward, that injury might actually help them re-sign him on a smaller “prove it” deal as he enters his age 33 season.
With the Nationals mentioning that the team will move to a six man rotation for the rest of the season, Williams will have one more start to show what he has left in the tank scheduled for September 28th at Nationals Park against the Philadelphia Phillies.
CHRISTIAN RAUH