WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Two weeks into the new year, the Nationals had only one relief pitcher on their roster with any kind of substantial big league experience: Derek Law. Clearly, Mike Rizzo still had plenty of work to do before the start of spring training.

The process remains slow, but the Nats have managed to add three experienced relievers over the last month. They signed right-hander Jorge López to a $3 million deal on Jan. 11. They signed left-hander Colin Poche to a minor league deal on Feb. 7. And then on Wednesday they signed right-hander Lucas Sims to a $3 million deal.

At long last, a bullpen that was woefully short on proven arms now has four veterans to take some pressure off the organization’s young relievers.

“These guys have done it. They understand it. They’ve done it at the major league level,” manager Davey Martinez said. “They can teach our younger guys what it takes to go out there and compete, to be put in these high-leverage situations. Talk to them about controlling your heartbeat, always being ready, what their routine is like in every situation. I’m excited about the guys we brought in, the veteran guys, because they’re willing to do that.”

All three newly signed veterans have said the right things about their individual responsibilities and their desire to mentor younger teammates who haven’t been through the meat grinder before.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – If the season began today, and the Nationals held a slim lead entering the ninth inning, who would emerge from the bullpen to close the game?

“Right now, I don’t try to think about it,” manager Davey Martinez said with a smile. “I think it’ll all shape up.”

The season doesn’t begin today, of course, and that’s probably a good thing because the Nats don’t have a complete handle on the eventual makeup of their Opening Day bullpen yet.

After non-tendering All-Star Kyle Finnegan following the season, the team has signed a couple of experienced free agents to modest contracts in right-hander Jorge López ($3 million) and left-hander Colin Poche (minor league deal). Those two join returning setup man Derek Law, promising young lefty Jose A. Ferrer, returning-from-injury Mason Thompson and inexperienced righties Eduardo Salazar, Zach Brzykcy, Orlando Ribalta and Evan Reifert in a relief corps that looks quite diminished on paper.

López is the only one in the group with anything resembling big-league closing experience, with 23 of his 31 career saves coming in 2022 with the Orioles and Twins. He is best suited in a setup role, perhaps sharing that job with always-available workhorse Law.

When the Nationals decided to non-tender All-Star closer Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey on Nov. 22, they were letting go the only two relief pitchers on their roster who had real major league experience in high-leverage end-of-game situations.

After a spectacular start to the season with a 1.98 ERA and 23 saves on July 4, Finnegan struggled after his first All-Star selection. Over his final 28 appearances, he pitched to a 5.93 ERA with only 15 saves in 17 chances. Although he finished third in the major leagues with 38 saves, his overall 3.68 ERA was the third-highest among relievers with 26 or more saves.

Nonetheless, the Nats’ decision to part ways with Finnegan, who at 33 was projected to make $8.6 million in his last year of arbitration eligibility by MLB Trade Rumors, was unexpected.

The choice to non-tender Rainey, however, was less surprising. The 32-year-old right-hander was still trying to rediscover his form after August 2022 Tommy John surgery. Although he pitched to a 2.14 ERA and 1.000 WHIP over the season’s final two months, his overall numbers of 4.76 and 1.490 weren’t encouraging enough for the Nats to hold onto the last remaining player from their 2019 championship roster for one more year.

So the Nats entered the thick of the Hot Stove Season in need of a closer. And here we are two days away from pitchers and catchers reporting to West Palm Beach where the question still stands: Who’s the closer?

Yesterday, we looked at the Nationals’ projected position players and tried to decide if they figure to get better, worse or the same production from each spot this year as they got last year. While the overall outlook for a top-tier lineup doesn’t exactly look great, it does appear to be better in most spots, including a few key positions.

Now, what about the pitching staff? It’s probably not fair to run this exercise yet, because there are still several significant holes to fill in the bullpen. But we don’t know when (or if) that will happen for certain, so all we can do is evaluate the state of things in their current form.

What’s the outlook? Is the 2025 Nats pitching staff likely to be better, worse or the same as it was in 2024? …

NO. 1 STARTER: Slightly better, maybe much better
We don’t know at this point who the Opening Day starter will be, but let’s say it’s MacKenzie Gore. He had the lowest ERA (3.91) and the most strikeouts (181) on the staff last season while also tying for the team lead in wins (10). Is that as good as the left-hander is going to get? The feeling here is no. Gore has long been touted as a frontline big league starter, and while we’ve seen stretches of that from him, we’re still waiting for him to put it all together over a full year. Here’s why he may be ready to make that leap: While he was excellent in his 10 wins last season (1.98 ERA), he was considerably better in his 12 losses (5.37 ERA) than he was the previous year (7.71 ERA). We know Gore is outstanding when he’s at his best. The key for him now is to just be OK when he’s not at his best, not letting starts blow up on him. He showed improvement in that area last season, and there’s reason to believe he can continue to get better this season.

NO. 2 STARTER: Same, maybe better
Jake Irvin was one of the most positive developments of the 2024 season, with 10 wins, 187 2/3 innings pitched and a strong 1.199 WHIP. Like Gore, he was really good when he was at his best (1.61 ERA in wins, 2.59 ERA in no-decisions) but really bad when he wasn’t at his best (8.28 ERA in 14 losses). Can he reduce the number of those bad starts, or at least pitch a bit better in those games? If he can, Irvin has a chance to be better overall this season. Even if he doesn’t, he can be a solid workhorse for this team.

Twenty-four hours ago, the Nationals’ most pressing roster needs appeared obvious. They needed a power-hitting first baseman. They needed a veteran starting pitcher. They needed an experienced reliever or two for a setup role. And maybe they needed another productive offensive player who could either hold or share the DH role with someone else.

And then just like that, they added another pressing need to the list: a closer.

Friday night’s unexpected decision not to tender a contract to Kyle Finnegan – fellow reliever Tanner Rainey also was non-tendered – created a major void in the Nats bullpen. Maybe Finnegan wasn’t an elite lockdown closer, but he ranked second in the National League in saves this season and over his five seasons in D.C. totaled 88 saves and 291 appearances, third-most in club history in each category.

Manager Davey Martinez’s remaining relief options boast nothing close to that kind of resume.

Derek Law, who was tendered a contract before Friday’s deadline, is a durable and reliable reliever, to be sure. But the 34-year-old has notched only 13 big league saves across parts of eight seasons with six different clubs. His value lies in his ability to take the ball as often as his manager needs him, which led to a whopping 75 appearances and 90 innings pitched this season. He actually pitches more regularly than a typical closer does.

PLAYER REVIEW: JOSE A. FERRER

Age on Opening Day 2025: 25

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2017

MLB service time: 1 year, 94 days

2024 salary: $743,000

There’s not much to complain about on a Sunday afternoon in mid-September in Washington, D.C. The summer’s heat and humidity have departed the region for the year. And there were matters of sport of all kinds happening in the area on a lovely sunny, 70-degree day in the District.

As it pertained to the local baseball club, this afternoon went as easily as a Sunday morning to wrap up the penultimate homestand of the 2024 season. With a 4-3 victory in front of 18,265 fans on South Capitol Street, the Nats finished this homestand 4-2 and the season series 11-2 against the Marlins.

MacKenzie Gore set the pace en route to his ninth win of the year, despite a prolonged first inning.

“Just command wasn't there from the get-go," Gore said after the game. "And then we got going.”

After issuing a leadoff walk and a two-out walk, the southpaw needed 31 pitches, only 16 of which were strikes, to get out of a scoreless top of the first. But he settled in from there to produce yet another strong stat line against the Marlins.

Jose A. Ferrer had already faced the minimum three batters required of him in the top of the eighth Wednesday night. And now, with two on and Marcell Ozuna stepping to the plate representing the tying run, no one would’ve batted an eyelash had Davey Martinez summoned a right-hander from his bullpen in place of Ferrer.

Martinez instead decided to stick with the 24-year-old left-hander, believing this was an opportunity to see how he handled a big spot against a big hitter.

“That was his moment,” the Nationals manager said. “I told (pitching coach Jim) Hickey: ‘Let him face these guys. We’re going to need him to do that, so let him get used to it.’ And he went through it fine.”

That he did. Ferrer got Ozuna to fly out to right field on a 99 mph fastball. Then he got Matt Olson to tap a grounder back to the mound on a 100 mph fastball to get out of the jam and ultimately help lead the Nats to a 5-1 victory over the Braves.

“It felt great, especially since for this season, based on the way the game was going, that was the toughest inning I’ve pitched this year,” Ferrer said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “And to be able to pull a zero out, not give up any runs in that situation, I felt great about it.”

When Jose A. Ferrer entered from the bullpen in the top of the eighth Monday night and stopped near the infield to be inspected by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi, there was no reason for any observer to pay attention. This was standard practice for any relief pitcher who enters the game, with umpires checking for any evidence of illegal substances on his glove, cap or body.

But when Cuzzi called over the entire umpiring crew, and when Nationals manager Davey Martinez came out of the dugout to find out what was going on, this suddenly became a potential controversy. Was there something wrong with Ferrer’s glove? Was he using “sticky stuff” and about to be ejected and subject to suspension by Major League Baseball?

No, he was not. After a long meeting of all the involved parties, Ferrer was allowed to pitch, and he wound up recording the final four outs of the game for the Nats without incident.

So, what happened? Ferrer accidentally had a legal ointment on his forearm but was allowed to wipe it off without any punishment.

Like many pitchers, Ferrer uses Red Hot ointment, which keeps the shoulder muscle warm, when he pitches, according to Martinez this afternoon. But when Cuzzi noticed the 24-year-old left-hander’s forearm was unusually shiny, he got suspicious and had the entire crew take a look at it in case something illegal was going on.

The Nationals returned from the All-Star break in high spirits. Everyone seemed to enjoy the much-needed week off after a brutal stretch to end the first half of the season.

But the vibes in the clubhouse took a turn when the team received some unfortunate, though not totally unexpected, news: Josiah Gray has a partial tear of his right UCL and will require elbow surgery, ending his season and delaying his start to next year.

The right-hander experienced elbow discomfort during his last rehab start on June 30 with Triple-A Rochester, so the Nationals shut him down and scheduled an MRI and a consultation with specialist Keith Meister during the All-Star break.

The results were what they feared the most.

“It got looked at by Dr. Meister over the All-Star break and we found a little partial tear in UCL. So we're gonna opt for elbow surgery here,” Gray said in front of his locker in the Nats clubhouse before the second-half opener against the Reds. “It's gonna, obviously, end the year for me. I got a long road ahead, but that was kind of what the doctor saw and we got that opinion from him and we're kind of going to hit the ground running.”

MILWAUKEE – When the Nationals demoted DJ Herz to Triple-A earlier this week, it opened the door for the club to carry a long reliever for the first time this season. But with the fifth starter’s spot in the rotation coming back up this evening, the team had no choice but to drop that long man in favor of a fill-in starter.

With Jackson Rutledge recalled from Rochester to start tonight’s series opener against the Brewers, the Nats optioned Joan Adon back to Triple-A, only four days after calling him up.

Adon, a starter through his entire professional career until recent weeks when he was converted to a long relief role in the minors, wound up appearing in only one game for the Nationals this week, pitching the ninth inning of what became a 5-0 loss to the Cardinals. The team never found itself in a situation where it used him for multiple innings the rest of the week.

Rutledge is not expected to remain in the majors after making his spot start tonight, so the Nats could send him back down and call up a reliever to take his spot. But they can’t recall Adon for 10 days unless he’s replacing an injured pitcher.

Club officials do still believe Adon could prove valuable later this season as a much-needed long man in the bullpen, once he gets fully acclimated to the role.

NEW YORK – While still slowly progressing in their respective rehabs, Trevor Williams and Joey Gallo are both still a ways away from returning off the injured list for the Nationals.

Williams landed on the 15-day IL on June 4 (retroactive to June 1) with a right flexor muscle strain, a similar injury to what has kept Josiah Gray sidelined for the last three months. Although the right-hander finally began throwing recently, he’s still not near the point of throwing from a mound, nevertheless facing live hitters and starting a rehab assignment.

“No, the same,” said manager Davey Martinez when asked if there is an update on Williams ahead of this series opener against the Mets. “He's still progressing. It's going to be a process. But he's throwing up to like 60 feet and he's getting better.”

Williams was the Nats’ best starter over the first two months of the season: In 11 starts, he went 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP, while the Nats went 9-2 in those games. After struggling last year, the 32-year-old had made himself the team’s top trade chip ahead of this month’s deadline.

But now it’s unlikely Williams will be able to return to major league mound ahead of the July 30 trade deadline.

The Nationals made a switch at their backup catcher position Wednesday afternoon, recalling Riley Adams from Triple-A Rochester and optioning Drew Millas back to Rochester.

Adams, 28, was sent down to Rochester and replaced by Millas on the major league roster a month ago after he hit .215 with five doubles, two homers, six RBIs, seven walks, one stolen base and six runs scored in 25 games with the Nationals.

Now after 22 games with the Red Wings, he’s back in the big leagues with improved timing at the plate and another defensive position in his back pocket to give manager Davey Martinez more flexibility.

“Feels good to be back,” Adams said mere minutes after he returned to the clubhouse at Nats Park. “Obviously I've been here now for 20 minutes and I'm happy to be back. Happy to be here and anyway can help the team and all that stuff, I'm here for. That's what I told Davey. I'm excited to get back to work.”

Adams slashed .288/.396/.550 with a .946 OPS, three doubles, six homers, 13 RBIs, 12 walks and 16 runs scored with Rochester.

SAN DIEGO – It looked like it could have been the beginning of the end for Patrick Corbin in the Nationals rotation on June 5.

The veteran left-hander, now one of only two active players remaining from the 2019 World Series championship roster and in the last season of his six-year, $140 million contract that has kept him has the highest paid player on the team while statistically being one of the worst pitchers in the sport, once again gave up a lot of runs in a single outing.

The Mets tagged him for six runs on seven hits (three home runs) in 5 ⅓ innings. Four days later, Josiah Gray, an important piece to the Nats rotation of the future, made his first rehab start while coming back from a right elbow/forearm flexor strain.

The two have pitched close to the same day over the last two weeks, seemingly lining up Gray to take Corbin’s spot in the rotation once he was deemed ready. Corbin’s future with the team remained a mystery. Would they move him to the bullpen, where they currently have only one lefty reliever? Would they try to use a six-man rotation like they did with some success last year? Or would they simply cut ties with the 34-year-old as a pending free agent with very little trade value?

Well, if you look at the way Corbin has pitched since that start against the Mets, it’s as if he’s borrowing a line from Lee Corso: “Not so fast, my friend.”

DENVER – CJ Abrams is back in the Nationals’ lineup tonight, his left wrist taped up as he tries to protect a ganglion cyst that developed earlier in the week and kept him from playing the last two days.

“I’m not really sure what that is,” he said. “But it can’t get worse, so I’m good for tonight.”

The cyst is on the palm side of Abrams’ wrist, under the skin but pushing up slightly to create a small bump. He first noticed it prior to Wednesday’s game, at which point the Nats scratched him from the lineup. He also sat out Thursday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks but was showing signs of improvement that led him to believe he’d be OK for tonight’s game against the Rockies.

Because the cyst is on his left wrist, Abrams has no issues throwing. He simply has to deal with a little bit of discomfort when he bats.

“I still don’t know,” he said when asked how it occurred. “Just swinging, I guess. That’s when it hurts the most.”

Josiah Gray is going to retake the mound for the second start of his rehab assignment tonight with Double-A Harrisburg. The Senators are home against the Bowie Baysox (Orioles) with the injured right-hander starting and scheduled to go about four innings and 60-65 pitches.

Gray landed on the 15-day injured list on April 9 (retroactive to April 6) and made his first rehab start on Sunday with Single-A Fredericksburg. He threw 43 pitches and allowed three runs on three extra-base hits, awarded one walk, hit a batter and struck out two. He told reporters this week in Detroit that he focused mostly on his fastball and cutter.

Tonight, he’ll look to incorporate more of his extensive arsenal.

“I want to see him today to really attack the strike zone,” manager Davey Martinez said before Friday’s opener against the Marlins at Nationals Park. “Get ahead, finish. We always talk about finishing hitters in three pitches or less. I want to see him do that. Plus too, we talked a little bit about how to utilize his breaking ball. I want to see him throw it early in counts for strikes and see if he can do that. But the biggest thing is his mechanics. We got to make sure he hones in on his mechanics. That he's not flying open. I want his misses to be around the plate. So hopefully, he gets there today.”

Gray throws a whopping seven pitches: four-seam fastball, cutter, slider, curveball, sweeper, changeup and sinker. While the Nats would like to see him focus on a couple of them, they’re fine with him trying out as many as he wants in his rehab starts. As long as he throws them for strikes.

CLEVELAND – The Nationals clubhouse was mostly empty three hours before tonight’s series opener at Progressive Field, only a few players lounging around and chatting while the rest waited to take a late bus to the ballpark following an exceptionally late night of travel.

A 7:20 p.m. getaway night game in Atlanta was bad enough. Then a lengthy delay with the team’s charter plane meant the Nats didn’t finally check into their Cleveland hotel until nearly 5 a.m.

Suffice it to say, Davey Martinez canceled batting practice and told everyone to report to the park later than usual, hoping they would get some much needed rest in the meantime.

“We pushed the buses back a little bit, but these guys are all getting ready,” Martinez said during his 5 p.m. pregame session with reporters. “A lot of them are already in the cage. We’ll have our (pre-series scouting) meetings and try to get ready to go.”

The Nationals weren’t pleased with the scheduling of their four-game series against the Braves, which began with a 4:10 p.m. Memorial Day affair but then concluded with three straight 7:20 p.m. starts. This also comes during a tough stretch of 17 consecutive scheduled game days, with their next day off still a ways away on June 10.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Nick Senzel is on the kind of power streak most players only dream about. Trey Lipscomb has been red-hot since returning from Triple-A. So how do the Nationals keep both players in the lineup?

For now, the answer is to have Senzel serve as designated hitter while Lipscomb handles third base.

That’s the alignment again tonight for the Nats’ series opener against the Rangers, the fourth straight lineup card Davey Martinez has filled out with Lipscomb at third and Senzel as DH.

“It works out really well for us right now,” Martinez said. “Nick’s starting to swing the bat really well. Lipscomb’s playing really well both sides of the ball. So we’ll keep it like this for a while.”

Senzel, whose season debut was delayed by a fractured thumb suffered during pregame drills on Opening Day, enters tonight with five homers in his last six games. And he nearly hit another homer Monday night in Miami, the ball landing at the wall in deep left-center for a double.

As ballgames up and down the East Coast were being delayed or postponed altogether due to rain, Davey Martinez tried to remain optimistic about the Nationals’ chances of actually playing the Pirates as scheduled at 6:45 p.m. tonight.

“We’re going to get ready to play until they tell us otherwise,” the manager said about 3 hours before scheduled first pitch. “Hopefully we do play. All these days off at the beginning, it’s tough to get in that routine. So I want to play. I want to get them out on the field and get them going.”

Today is the seventh day of the regular season but only the Nats’ fifth scheduled game. They already had a day off in Cincinnati following the season opener, then another Tuesday following the home opener. The notion of another one at this early juncture isn’t exactly popular with anyone in uniform.

Even though they played as scheduled Monday, the Nationals weren’t able to take batting practice on the field due to the poor conditions. They same held true today, with players restricted to the indoor batting cage.

A break in routine, or an unexpected day off, can be appreciated at certain points during the long season – “August!” Martinez quipped – but not so much this early in the marathon.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Jose A. Ferrer is going to open the season on the injured list with an upper back strain, removing one of the left-handers competing for a spot in the Nationals bullpen with two weeks to go in spring training.

Ferrer has a strain of the teres major, a muscle that connects the upper back to the shoulder, and will be shut down three weeks before he’s re-evaluated, according to manager Davey Martinez.

The 24-year-old made only three Grapefruit League appearances this spring, two of them during the first week of games, then one more March 8, when he tossed two scoreless innings but apparently was already dealing with some discomfort. The club had him undergo an MRI this week, which revealed the strain.

Ferrer was competing with Robert Garcia, Richard Bleier and Joe La Sorsa for one or two spots in the Opening Day bullpen the Nationals would like to give to a left-hander. Bleier, in camp as a non-roster invitee, has made a team-high eight appearances, striking out seven without issuing any walks. La Sorsa, who was dropped from the 40-man roster over the winter, has allowed only one run in 6 2/3 innings and has converted each of four save opportunities. Garcia, who has received the most praise from Martinez this spring, has a 3.86 ERA across seven innings.

Ferrer actually has pitched better than any of them, with only two batters reaching base in four innings of work. But his inexperience – and the fact that he still has minor league options – probably put him in a disadvantageous position entering camp.