The Nats claimed the journeyman—who made his MLB debut last March at the age of 30—after he had been put on waivers by the Twins following the signing of Josh Donaldson. Headed for the Minnesota minors will be Hunter McMahon, who pitched nine times for the G-Nats and Doubledays after he was drafted last June in the 9th Rd. out of Texas State.
In addition to eliminating McMahan/McMahon spell-check issue, the Nats added another arm to compete for the five or so open spots in the ‘pen while filling the last open spot on the 40-man roster. Harper posted a line of 3.81/3.66/1.18 in 54⅓ innings and 61 appearances in 2019 and would have had better marks in those categories than every reliever not named Daniel Hudson.