Parker turned into surprising workhorse as Nats rookie

PLAYER REVIEW: MITCHELL PARKER

Age on Opening Day 2025: 25

How acquired: Fifth round pick, 2020 MLB Draft

MLB service time: 1 year

2024 salary: $740,000

Contract status: Under club control, arbitration-eligible in 2027, free agent in 2030

2024 stats: 7-10, 4.29 ERA, 29 G, 29 GS, 151 IP, 154 H, 82 R, 72 ER, 18 HR, 43 BB, 133 SO, 2 HBP, 1.305 WHIP, 94 ERA+, 3.85 FIP, 0.7 bWAR, 2.4 fWAR

Quotable: “To be able to get that many innings this year is awesome. Like we said when I got here, I just wanted to make every start I can and stay healthy, get as many innings as possible. So being able to do it is huge.” – Mitchell Parker

2024 analysis: The Nationals figured they’d see Mitchell Parker in the majors this season. They just didn’t figure they’d see him by mid-April. Or that once he arrived, he’d never leave. But when Josiah Gray had to be placed on the injured list after only two starts, the Nats needed to summon someone from Triple-A Rochester. And because Jackson Rutledge was dealing with a minor ankle injury, it was Parker who got the surprise call to make his big league debut. At Dodger Stadium. On Jackie Robinson Day.

Braced for the worst, the Nationals instead got an eye-opening performance from Parker, who struck out Shohei Ohtani once and Mookie Betts twice over the course of five strong innings to become the franchise’s first rookie starter to win his debut since Stephen Strasburg. He followed that up with seven scoreless innings against the Astros to improve to 2-0, and he was off and running.

Parker displayed a remarkable unflappability in his first two months in the majors, allowing three or fewer earned runs in each of his first 12 starts while averaging 5 2/3 innings per outing. By mid-June, he was 5-3 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.079 WHIP, making believers out of a lot of observers.

Parker did not sustain that kind of consistent success the rest of the season. Over his final 17 starts, he went just 2-7 with a 5.29 ERA and endured through multiple blowups, including one in Milwaukee in which he couldn’t get out of the first inning. But five of his last 10 starts were quality starts, and that doesn’t even include his five scoreless innings against the Royals in his final outing of what proved to be an immensely positive rookie year.

2025 outlook: The Nationals took a real chance calling Parker up as quickly as they did, throwing him to the wolves and hoping he could survive it. They were rewarded for their gusty move with 29 major league starts and the third-most innings by a rookie starter in club history, behind only John Lannan (182 in 2008) and Matt Chico (167 in 2007). Interestingly enough, those were both lefties who were thrust into the big leagues ahead of schedule. Lannan enjoyed a productive career; Chico did not.

There are some apt comparisons to Lannan, who was a valuable workhorse during some lean years but then got pushed aside once the team began contending. That could wind up being Parker’s ultimate path, though he has a chance heading into 2025 to show he should be considered part of both the short- and long-term plan.

Parker was at his best when he was able to effectively work north-south against hitters, locating his fastball up in the zone and his curveball and splitter down in the zone. The danger of throwing high fastballs that average only 92.5 mph is that they don’t induce a lot of swings and misses, nor ground balls. Parker’s fly ball rate (28.2 percent) was well above league average, his ground ball rate (38.7 percent) well below league average. He has to locate it precisely, and mix it in well with his offspeed stuff down in the zone to keep hitters off-balance.

Parker also has to clean up his work in the field. He totaled only 13 defensive chances this season, and shockingly five of those resulted in errors. This has to be a point of emphasis over the winter and next spring, lest teams really start exploiting an obvious weakness.