Nationals announce 2025 spring training non-roster invitees

The Washington Nationals announced their 2025 Spring Training non-roster invitees on Thursday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

RHP: Daison Acosta, Joan Adon, Marquis Grissom Jr., Clay Helvey, Brad Lord, Jack Sinclair, Tyler Stuart, Jarlin Susana

LHP: Konnor Pilkington

C: Andrew Knizner, Caleb Lomavita, Max Romero Jr.

INF: Brady House, Yohandy Morales, Cayden Wallace

OF: Daylen Lile, Andrew Pinckney

The list includes five of the Nationals top 10 prospects according to Baseball America: Jarlin Susana (No. 3), Brady House (No. 4), Caleb Lomavita (No. 8), Cayden Wallace (No. 9) and Daylen Lile (No. 10).

Acosta, 26, ranked fifth among all Double-A pitchers (min. 50.0 IP) with 12.40 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched in his first season with the Nationals organization in 2024. He pitched in 43 games for Double-A Harrisburg, going 4-3 with a 2.89 ERA and finished the season with four scoreless appearances for Triple-A Rochester. 

Adon, 26, enjoyed four Major League stints in his fourth big league season in 2024. He pitched in eight games, making one start, and went 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA and six strikeouts in 10.2 innings. He appeared in 10 games out of Triple-A Rochester’s bullpen, his first work out of the bullpen since 2019, and posted a 2.51 ERA (4 ER/14.1 IP) with 12 strikeouts, five walks and a .218 opponents’ average.

Grissom, 23, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was drafted in the 13^th round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of Georgia Tech. He is one of only seven pitchers in all of Minor League Baseball to amass 20 saves with a sub-3.00 ERA over the last two seasons.

Helvey, 27, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he signed with the Nationals as a Minor League free agent this offseason. He spent all but two games of his 2024 season with Triple-A Sacramento in the San Francisco Giants organization. He struck out a career-high 102 hitters over 74.1 innings of relief.

House, 21, is the No. 84 prospect in baseball according to MLBPipeline.com. He will take part in his second Major League Spring Training after he set career marks in nearly every offensive category in 129 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester last season. He ranked in Washington's system in total bases (1^st, 200), home runs (2^nd, 19), extra-base hits (T2^nd, 41), RBI (4^th, 66), slugging (4^th, .402) and hits (4^th, 120).

Knizner, 29, signed as a Minor League free agent in January of 2025. In parts of six Major League seasons, he has hit .210 with 32 doubles, 18 home runs, 85 RBI, four stolen bases and 89 runs scored in 290 career games. He played in 35 games for the Texas Rangers in 2024, collecting two extra-base hits, nine RBI and five runs scored.

Lile, 22, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the second round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Trinity (Ky.) High School. He led Washington’s Minor League system in triples (10), was tied for the lead in doubles (23) and ranked in hits (2^nd, 127), total bases (T3^rd, 188), walks (T3^rd, 54), OBP (4^th, .347), OPS (4^th, .735), runs scored (4^th, 69), batting average (5^th, .262) and stolen bases (T6^th, 25).

Lomavita, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the first round (39^th overall) of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of California, Berkeley. He played in 17 games for the Single-A Carolina League Champion, Fredericksburg Nationals. He hit .213 with two doubles, 10 RBI, three stolen bases and 15 runs scored.

Lord, 25, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the 18^th round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Florida. He was one of just two pitchers in Minor League Baseball to win 10 games, pitch to an ERA less than 2.50 and strike out 100 in 2024. He ranked in the Nationals organization in ERA (1st, 2.43), wins (2nd, 10), strikeouts (2nd, 135), opponents’ batting average (2nd, .224), WHIP (4th, 1.20) and innings pitched (5th, 129.2) while pitching with High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester.

Morales, 23, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the second round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Miami (Fla.). He hit .269 with 11 doubles, a triple, five home runs, 34 RBI, 31 walks, four stolen bases and 25 runs scored in 69 games for Double-A Harrisburg in 2024.

Pilkington, 27, signed a Minor League contract with the Nationals this offseason. He spent the 2024 season with Triple-A Reno in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and went 3-5 with a 5.91 ERA in 33 games (21 starts). He struck out 79 in 77.2 innings.

Pinckney, 24, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the fourth round of the 2023 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Alabama. He led all Nationals Minor Leaguers in hits (134) and ranked in the top 10 in total bases (3^rd, 188), triples (T3^rd, 4), doubles (T4^th, 22), stolen bases (5^th, 27), extra-base hits (6^th, 34), runs (T6^th, 65), on-base percentage (7^th, .329), RBI (T7^th, 50), OPS (8^th, .691) and slugging percentage (9^th, .362) while playing 114 games for Double-A Harrisburg and 23 games with Triple-A Rochester.

Romero, 23, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the ninth round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Miami (Fla.). He spent the entire 2024 season with High-A Wilmington and hit .188 with 14 doubles, a triple, nine home runs, 33 RBI and 25 runs scored.

Sinclair, 25, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he was selected in the 16th round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Southern Mississippi. He ranked among Double-A relievers (min. 55.0 IP) in ERA (T3^rd, 2.20), WHIP (4^th, 0.96) and opponents’ batting average (6^th, .180) in 2024, while collecting eight saves.

Stuart, 25, was acquired in exchange for Jesse Winker at the 2024 trade deadline and will participate in his first Major League Spring Training. He pitched to a 2.08 ERA in four starts for Double-A Harrisburg and struck out 32 in 21.2 innings, including a 13-strikeout performance on Aug. 10 against Bowie. He finished the season by making four starts for Triple-A Rochester.

Susana, 21, Baseball America’s No. 67 overall prospect, will take part in his first Major League Spring Training after he led all of Minor League Baseball (min. 100.0 IP) in strikeouts per 9.0 IP (13.63) in 2024. He ranks fourth in Minor League Baseball (min. 150.0 IP) in home runs per 9.0 innings (0.28) and 13th in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (11.83) over the last two seasons.

Wallace, 23, was acquired with a Competitive Balance A draft pick in July of 2024 in exchange for Hunter Harvey. He hit .256 with 10 doubles, three home runs, 23 RBI, four stolen bases and 28 runs scored in 56 games between the High-A and Double-A in the Nationals and Kansas City Royals organizations.