What Role Will Veteran Reliever Have With Washington Nationals Next Season?
With the offseason beginning for the Washington Nationals, the franchise is going to be looking to take the next step forward as they want this rebuild to come to a close.
As the team prepares for 2025, they figure to be a factor this winter in free agency. With a couple of poor contracts coming off the books, led by Patrick Corbin, the Nationals have money to spend.
Where that money will be allocated will be the big question. Adding a top-end starting pitcher makes a lot of sense for a rotation that is young and unproven. Also, a bat to place in the middle of the order will be a priority as well.
One area they might not make too many major changes to is their bullpen. With Kyle Finnegan leading the way as the closer, the Nationals appear to have a solid group in the bullpen.
Recently, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports spoke about the outlook for veteran relief pitcher Tanner Rainey, who had an up and down 2024 season.
“So for this to be worth it, the Nationals have to finally give Rainey a chance to pitch in at least moderately important situations. He doesn’t have to be part of their so-called 'A bullpen' entering the season, but Martinez needs to be able to ask him to pitch, say, the sixth or seventh inning in a two-run game. If he proves he can perform well in those spots, he can ultimately prove to be a valuable member of this relief corps for one more season.”
As the likely last remaining player for the Nationals from their 2019 World Series team, Rainey had a bit of a challenging first full year back from Tommy John surgery. Despite getting some action at the end of 2023, he didn’t look like himself to begin 2024, and he really fell out of favor in the bullpen.
Overall, the right-hander totaled a 4.76 ERA in 51 innings pitched, as the start of the season was pretty poor. However, he did pitch better as the year went on, but wasn’t really used in high leverage situations.
As the Nationals head into 2025, it will be interesting to see where Rainey falls in their bullpen ranks.
Ideally, using him late in games alongside Derek Law and Finnegan would help create a solid back-end of the bullpen. However, the veteran will need to pitch like he did in the second half of the season.
