Nationals select the contract of Ben Braymer

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Ben Braymer on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Braymer, 25, led Washington's Minor League system with 26 starts, ranked third with 139.0 innings pitched and sixth with 116 strikeouts in his fourth professional season in 2019. Between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Fresno, he went 4-10 with a 4.53 ERA.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound left-hander started the 2019 season with the Harrisburg Senators where he went 4-4 with a 2.51 ERA (22 ER/79.0 IP) and 69 strikeouts in 13 starts. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11 of those 13 outings. He held opposing batters to a .190 batting average (56-for-294) with just seven home runs, including just two homers across his final eight Eastern League starts.

On June 26, Braymer was promoted to Triple-A Fresno and went 0-6 with a 7.20 ERA (48 ER/60.0 IP) in 13 starts. He capped his 2019 campaign in strong fashion, posting a 3.43 ERA (8 ER/21.0 IP) and recording 17 strikeouts in his last four starts of the season.

Braymer was Washington's 2018 Minor League co-Pitcher of the Year leading Washington's Minor League system with a 2.28 ERA while going 9-3 with two saves in 28 games (11 starts) between Single-A Hagerstown and Single-A Potomac. He struck out 118 batters - third-most in Washington's system - in 114.2 innings pitched. Opposing batters hit .219 against him, including a .174 average by left-handed batters along the way.

Selected in the 18th round of the 2016 First-Year Player Draft out of Auburn (AL) University, Braymer is 18-17 with a 3.64 ERA and 8.9 strikeouts per 9.0 innings across 75 professional games (52 starts) since joining the organization in 2016.

Washington now has 31 players on its 40-man roster.