The Washington Nationals 2026 pitching staff was quite the assortment of names. Not including position players, the Nats used 41 pitchers this season. Even in 2025, when the Nationals had some obscure names take the mound, they used just 29 arms. In this article, I wanted to take a look at five of the most random pitchers to take the mound for the Nationals.
From the very beginning of the season, it was clear that the Nats were going to churn through a lot of arms. There were a lot of pitchers on the Opening Day roster that you knew were not going to last long. In fact, Brad Lord was the only reliever on the Opening Day roster who made it the entire season without being sent to the minors or DFA'd.
1: Ken Waldichuk
Actually, there is one other reliever who technically meets that criteria as well. That would be Ken Waldichuk, who is the first random pitcher we will talk about. Now that is a name I bet many of you forgot about. Waldichuk made the team out of camp, but only made 5 appearances before tearing his UCL and undergoing Tommy John Surgery.
The 28 year old was shaky in his brief run with the club. In those 5 outings, he gave up runs in 4 of them. Waldichuk struggled with walks and homers, like many others in the Nats bullpen. He posted a 6.75 ERA in 9.1 innings. Hopefully he can get healthy and get another big league opportunity somewhere. I am not sure if that will be in DC. However, Waldichuk is still technically on the 40-man roster, so who knows.
2: Andre Granillo
Andre Granillo is the next random reliever to discuss. The Nats actually acquired Granillo in a minor trade with the Cardinals. They sent George Soriano, who was recently DFA'd, to St. Louis in exchange for Granillo. This swap of relievers proved to be an unfortunate deal.
Soriano made 70 appearances with the Red Birds, where he posted a mediocre 4.23 ERA. However, mediocrity is a lot better than what Granillo provided the Nats. After dominating in AAA and holding his own in the MLB as a rookie in 2025, I was optimistic about Granillo.
However, that quickly changed when I saw him pitch. His stuff just did not play at the MLB level. Granillo's slider, which was dominant in 2025, did not fool anyone in 2026. In 8 appearances for the Nats, Granillo posted a 9.64 ERA with 8 walks to just 3 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.
One of those outings was so bad that the scorekeeper actually took a win away from him despite the fact he was technically in line for it. They used the brief and ineffective rule to take away the win. That summarizes Granillo's stint with the Nats well. He was DFA'd in July and is now in the Tigers organization.
3: Julian Fernandez
Now here is a name that I genuinely forgot about. Believe it or not, Julian Fernandez made three appearances for the 2026 Nationals back in April. Surprisingly, he was not terrible when he pitched. Fernandez only allowed one earned run in four innings. However, he did surrender two unearned runs.
Fernandez throws in the mid to upper 90's and has a pretty good changeup to go with it. However, he is seemingly unable to throw a breaking ball. Unless your fastball and changeup are both exceptional, it is tough to survive long term without a breaking ball in 2026. That massive hole in his game is why he did not get more chances.
The 30 year old righty was DFA'd back in June. From what I can tell, Fernandez has not been picked up since. He was on the minor league IL when he got DFA'd, so maybe that is why. I am curious to find out where Fernandez will pitch next year.
4: Jackson Rutledge
Jackson Rutledge is a name that most Nats fans know. However, the fact that he pitched THIS season is why he is on the list. Rutledge actually made 63 ineffective outings for the 2025 Nats. However, he did not make the team out of camp and faded out of sight from there.
Rutledge only made one outing for the 2026 Nationals and it did not go well. The former first rounder gave up 7 runs in 1.1 innings on April 13th against the Pirates before immediately getting sent down. His first inning was actually scoreless, but he melted down from there.
After spending time in the minors, Rutledge was DFA'd and claimed by the Phillies. However, he did not pitch in the big leagues for them and was eventually released. After that, Rutledge signed in Japan where he looks to revitalize his career like Foster Griffin did. His one 2026 outing was one to forget though.
5: Justin Lawrence
Out of all the names on this list, Justin Lawrence is probably the most memorable. However, being the most memorable out of a forgettable bunch still makes you forgettable. Lawrence made 7 outings for the Nats in June and July before being sent to Rochester, where he finished the season.
The Nats were Lawrence's third team of the 2026 season. After struggling with the first two, Lawrence made a good first impression in DC. He picked up a shaky but clutch save against the Orioles. That save makes Lawrence cool with me!
After that Lawrence was shaky though. His control has always been a problem and those issues showed up for the Nats. He walked 7 batters in 6.1 innings. Lawrence throws hard from a sidearm delivery and has a nasty sweeper. However, the lack of control has made him a journeyman.
Lawrence posted a 4.26 ERA in 7 outings with the Nats. That is not awful, but his WHIP was over 2 and he looked very shaky. Lawrence seems like a quality person, so I will be rooting for him moving forward. The right hander became a free agent after the minor league season ended.
There were a lot of names that pitched for the Nats this year that will not be remembered in the years to come. However, I think these are the five most random. Honorable mentions go to Jared Simpson, Matt Waldron, Zak Kent and Jake Bird. Hopefully the pitching staff is more settled in 2027 so I don't have to make this kind of list again.
