Young Washington Nationals Starter Remaining Positive During Rehab

Will Josiah Gray return better than ever for the Washington Nationals?

Apr 4, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Josiah Gray (40) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park. / Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals will be heading into the offseason looking to get better and hopefully see some more wins in 2025.

Despite a rough couple of years, there is a lot to like about the Nationals heading into next season. In their lineup, Washington features a plethora of young talent.

Players like CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. have already started to establish themselves as great hitters in the league, with both having career years in 2024. During the season, the Nationals also saw top prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews get called up to the majors.

Wood was able to provide some offense in a bigger sample size than Crews, but both will likely be starters in the outfield for Opening Day in 2025.

In the rotation, Washington also features a lot of young talent, but that talent seems far less proven. One pitcher who the franchise had high hopes for coming into the campaign was Josiah Gray. Unfortunately, after just a couple starts in 2024, Gray went down with an elbow injury which ended up requiring Tommy John surgery.

The 26-year-old missed the rest of the season, and won’t likely return in September 2025. However, he is remaining optimistic that this won’t be the end of his career, it’s just going to be the beginning.

“This is going to be a short blip in what is the hopes of a long career,” he said to Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports. “You have to be optimistic. You have to understand there will be good days, there will be bad days. But as long as you understand this is a year, maybe 14 months, of time you’re going to have to develop, to work on yourself. And those 14 months can turn into a long career.”

Gray was the Opening Day starter for Washington this season, after coming off an All-Star campaign in 2023, the future was looking bright for the young right-hander. Unfortunately, the timing of a major injury is never good, and Gray is essentially going to miss two seasons of baseball.

Fortunately, pitchers come back from Tommy John surgery fairly well now, and sometimes even better. Considering he was an All-Star for the team in 2023, he will surely be in their future plans.

While the Nationals will certainly be very careful with bringing him back late in 2025, he could be the Opening Day starter in 2026 once again.