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Nats Add Four Pitchers to 40-Man Roster

After years of only adding one or two of “our guys” to the big club roster, the Washington Nationals did it again with four pitchers added. (Alas, not the kind pictured 😉

Without further ado:

  • RHP Zach Brzykcy
  • RHP Cole Henry
  • LHP DJ Herz
  • LHP Mitchell Parker

Obviously, the biggest surprise was the first man listed: Brzyzcky. Not because we can picture the MASN Commenters trying to pronounce his name (“brick-see” for those lurking), but because there seemed to be no reason to protect a guy who had succumbed to Nationals elbow and might not be ready until May or June 2024.

Henry is less of a surprise, if for no other reason than prospect followers continue to tout him like Jim Cramer after his morning meth and espresso. He, too, is coming off surgery to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome – which is comparatively far less certain than UCL replacement.

Herz and Parker were expected for the reasons detailed yesterday. While only one throws strikes consistently, they are both left-handed and that will always get the southpaws more chances than the northpaws.

I’m sure some of you will weigh in that leaving Andry Lara is a gamble. While his production at High-A was not bad for his age (20 or three years younger than league average), and he certainly finished the season strong (2.67/3.62/0.93 over last six starts) that low K rate (6.0/9IP) is a huge red flag.

A reminder that the non-tender deadline is this Saturday, which the Nats already addressed by re-signing OF Victor Robles and RHP Tanner Rainey to one-year deals, so the 40-man today will probably not be the same on Sunday, as many of you stuck pins in the voodoo dolls pointed to other candidates for release.

14 Commments

  1. I agree with all 4 of these adds. There’s still some fluff on the 40 man, so expect some more releases soon.
    Would like to be saying goodbye to Robles.

      1. There was one year here where I voted for Soto over Robles in the Top Bats list and really got jumped on in the comments.

        It will be interesting to see what the Nats do with Robles now. He played well enough last season to have a smidgen of trade value. But there’s also no given on if/when Crews and/or Wood will be ready.

  2. Ryan Thompson having success after TOS surgery was a welcome sight, probably helped Henry get protected.

    of Herz and Parker I don’t see either one of them throwing strikes consistently but have no problem protecting them.

    Brzykcy was a find in 2020, good call protecting him.

    Lara? the zen master said we’ll see.

  3. I was somewhat surprised by Henry and really surprised by Brzyzcky. The Nats have better intel on their health/recovery than everyone else, so I hope this means that they think they’ll be back to close to full speed for some/much of next summer. My understanding is that someone picked in Rule 5 has to be on the active roster at least 90 days (as opposed to stashed on the IL), so supposedly the front office thinks that these guys could be serviceable on an MLB roster for 90 days in 2024. We’ll see.

    Honestly, with so many of the better arms in the MASH unit, I really have no idea how I’ll vote when we get to the Top Arms list.

  4. Bravo to the Nats for (finally) breaking the trend of over protecting 20yr old IFAs who havn’t gotten out of A-Ball. Jefry Rodrigez, Antuna, Raudy Read, Adon, Antuna, and De la Rosa all examples of this strategy that ended up costing us.

    1. Amen. The curse of Adrian Nieto has finally been broken! They lost one guy picked from the A+ level and apparently vowed “never again.” That’s not exactly a real strategy.

  5. I believe the Nats are taking the advice of the old Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation song Let it Ride . Especially leaving Lara EXPOS Ed lol. This fan base will be stoked with a healthy Cole Henry RH arm and pure circulatory system .
    If anyone in the Nats org is reading this , then I will highly recommend a new technology found @
    Wavwatch.com.
    If you are reading this Cole . It’s just $400 .
    Brilliant

  6. Some clever trades made in MLB to shave down 40 man rosters
    Clever Tampa deal with Marlins
    Rays get a young L/R IF Erik Meijia

  7. MILB put out the Nats organizational All Stars the other day. Here they are …..

    • 1B: Travis Blankenhorn
    • 2B: Darren Baker (Nationals’ No. 24 prospect, per MLB Pipeline)
    • SS: Jordy Barley
    • 3B: Brady House (Nationals’ No. 3, MLB No. 40)
    • OF: James Wood (Nationals’ No. 2, MLB No. 7)
    • OF: Dylan Crews (Nationals’ No. 1, MLB No. 4)
    • OF: Jacob Young (Nationals’ No. 29)
    • C: Drew Millas (Nationals’ No. 22)
    • RHP: Jackson Rutledge (Nationals’ No. 13)
    • LHP: Andrew Alvarez
    • RP: Marquis Grissom Jr.

    I recommend the entire article on the site as it includes more info on all the players.

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