Nats' rotation depth options appear improved from recent past

What was the most astounding stat about the 2023 Nationals? How about the fact they only used eight starting pitchers the entire season?

That represented the second-lowest total in the majors (only the Blue Jays were better) and matched the club record for fewest starters used in a single season (previously set in 2012 and 2014).

Fewer starters, unfortunately, didn’t mean better starting pitching. The Nats rotation still ranked 25th in the majors in ERA (5.02), WHIP (1.501) and strikeouts (702). Improvement remains paramount.

But the Nationals still could take pride in their ability to keep just about everyone in their rotation healthy. Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams each made 30-plus starts. MacKenzie Gore made 27 starts before a blister on his finger ended his season a couple weeks early. Jake Irvin joined the group in early May and never lost his spot. All of that allowed the team to overcome a lost year for Cade Cavalli, who tore his elbow ligament during spring training.

With Cavalli on target to return in June, the Nats should enter 2024 feeling good about the health of their rotation. They also should enter the new year fully aware the odds of duplicating their good luck are minimal.

That’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the nature of the sport. Starting pitchers get hurt, no matter how well they train and how well a coaching staff manages their workload.

As much as they would love Gray, Gore, Corbin and Irvin to make every scheduled start next season, with Cavalli eventually replacing Williams once he’s healthy, it would be foolish to count on any of that coming to fruition. Rotation depth almost certainly will be tested next year.

The good news: The Nationals appear to be in better shape in that department than they’ve been in a while, with several depth options waiting in the wings.

If the 2024 season began today, which of course it doesn’t, the Opening Day rotation at Triple-A Rochester could include some combination of Jackson Rutledge, Joan Adon, Thaddeus Ward, DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker, Cole Henry and just-signed veteran Spenser Watkins.

Is there a future ace in that group? Probably not. But that’s a far more intriguing group, with a far higher ceiling, than the Nats had this year.

Nine pitchers made at least 10 starts for Rochester in 2023: Wily Peralta, Adon, José Ureña, Cory Abbott, Paolo Espino, Rutledge, Anthony Banda, Roddery Muñoz and Tommy Romero. From that group, only Rutledge was considered an actual prospect.

Now Rutledge (who made his major league debut in September but figures to return to Triple-A to begin the season) could be joined by three prospects who were added to the 40-man roster last month in Herz, Parker and Henry, plus a more experienced Ward (who is free to start every fifth day in the minors instead of being stashed in the big league bullpen) and the enigmatic Adon (who still offers enough promise to keep around).

Only Watkins, a journeyman who spent parts of the last three seasons in the majors with the Orioles and Athletics, is older than 27.

There’s still a chance the Nationals could sign another veteran or two, someone like Peralta or Chad Kuhl, who will come to spring training trying to win a job and may ultimately have to accept an assignment to Triple-A. But that person probably wouldn’t leap over a prospect like Rutledge on the organizational depth chart if the big league team needed to promote a starter.

Yes, the Nats’ success in 2024 depends far more on the performances of Gray, Gore, Cavalli and Irvin at the major league level than anything else. But if – make that when – somebody goes down, they should feel better about their fallback options than they have in the recent past.