Thompson anxiously awaits news on elbow injury

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Mason Thompson was enjoying what he believed was a productive offseason. Determined to bounce back from an erratic 2023, the Nationals reliever set out to make some mechanical changes to his delivery, and a couple weeks ago faced a live hitter near his home in Texas for the first time this year.

Everything was going swimmingly. Until his elbow told him otherwise.

“It felt great. Ball was coming out good,” Thompson said. “Made it towards the end and just felt something, just felt some discomfort, something that just didn’t feel great. Gave it a couple of days, kind of was hoping that it was just some fatigue from the first time facing hitters throwing full speed. Unfortunately, it just kind of continued to persist, and now we’re here.”

Neither Thompson nor the Nationals know exactly where “here” is yet. He’s been shut down for two weeks, at which point he’ll be re-evaluated and a course of action will be determined.

Thompson, though, is no stranger to arm injuries. He had Tommy John surgery nine years ago while still a junior in high school. He dealt with a biceps strain in 2022 with the Nats and missed three months as a result.

He isn’t about to assume the worst-case scenario this time, but he’s also realistic enough to know it’s a possibility.

“I’ve had Tommy John before, so the feeling wasn’t new,” he said. “I don’t know necessarily if that’s where it’s headed, but I know that it’s felt a little bit more than just your usual soreness.”

Thompson’s offseason regimen wasn’t anything new. He typically faces live hitters a couple of times before reporting for spring training. And he was especially motivated to arrive in West Palm Beach this year and show club officials the progress he made.

At times last season, Thompson was as dominant as any reliever in the majors. He opened the year with 17 strikeouts, one walk, an 0.96 ERA and only 11 baserunners allowed in 18 1/3 innings. He saw the script flipped in May, but bounced back with another dominant stretch in June with an 0.82 ERA across 12 appearances. He then vacillated between effective and ineffective throughout the second half, winding up with a disappointing 5.50 ERA and 1.556 WHIP in 51 games.

With no guarantee of a spot in the Opening Day bullpen, Thompson knew he would need to show the coaching staff and front office tangible improvement this spring.

“I’ve definitely put in the work this offseason,” he said. “There were some mechanical things that I was working on that really seemed to be working well. The velocity was up, the command was good, off-speed was good. I was just really excited to get to camp and get going.”

Now, Thompson is stuck observing the first two weeks of spring training from the side while his teammates participate in full drills. After that? He doesn’t know yet.

Perhaps some time off will allow his elbow to calm down and he can begin building his arm back up. Perhaps he’ll learn he needs to miss considerable time.

“Mentally, it’s hard,” he said. “You work all offseason to get here, and then right before you get here, you get shut down again. So that part’s frustrating. Last year didn’t exactly go the way I wanted it to, so not getting that opportunity to kind of show the work that I put in this offseason was frustrating. But I’m optimistic to get through this, whatever that looks like at this point.”