The Rotation (2026)

[welch]

The other consideration about calling them up is what do you do if someone else is injured in the rotation?

Maybe

- move Mikolas to the bullpen. Demote one of the hopeless junk relievers, like Kranick.

- promote Perales to rotation, paired with a long relief man like Lord.

Perales is out of options, so it is now or never. Maybe Perales needs to be a middle-inning reliever, at the beginning, but it is time to pull Mikolas from the rotation.

[Slateman]

Maybe

- move Mikolas to the bullpen. Demote one of the hopeless junk relievers, like Kranick.

- promote Perales to rotation, paired with a long relief man like Lord.

Perales is out of options, so it is now or never. Maybe Perales needs to be a middle-inning reliever, at the beginning, but it is time to pull Mikolas from the rotation.

Lord is not long relief anymore. He is a high leverage bullpen arm. Mikolas would become the long relief/mop up guy.

The other consideration is do you want to wait until September before calling him up so you can call up an additional relief arm (rosters expand) to be a piggy back. Like, there's a chance that Herz is ready and he would be ideal to piggy back with, as they will be watching his work load as well.

I also think that if they're basing it on performance, Jackson Kent deserves a call up more than Perales.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Do rosters expand on 9/1 or is there now another date? It's 4+ turns for starters and bulk guys until then.

I could see a straight swap of Williams and Mikolas as the first change. Mind you, I still prefer Williams as a reliever.

[zoom]

Aren't all players on the 40 man subject to lockout?   I would be reluctant to promote a prospect for a month and lose (at least some of) next year's development.   Perales is on the 40 already.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I'll be curious about whether they will want to continue "bullpenning" the 5th rotation spot or whether they will move someone into it as either a bulk guy or a normal starter.  Certainly the Lord to Dion to Williams combination worked well yesterday. They ended up scoring enough runs that they could avoid Beeter / Ribalta / Cruz (Cosgrove) and give them 2 days off in a row before the Cubs series.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

For some reason, the Nats have delayed listing their probable starter for Tuesday. It's Irvin's turn on 5 days  rest.

Edit - the whole rotation for the Cubs series is TBD. See the next post.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Update: Imref posted that Nusbaum reports Jackson Kent is getting a call up. Last pitched on 8/5, same as Irvin. I don't believe the team has announced the corresponding move, but Mikolas's turn would have been Wednesday. They will need a spot on the 40 man as well as the active roster for Kent, so one way to do that would be to DFA Mikolas.

[welch]

Update: Imref posted that Nusbaum reports Jackson Kent is getting a call up. Last pitched on 8/5, same as Irvin. I don't believe the team has announced the corresponding move, but Mikolas's turn would have been Wednesday. They will need a spot on the 40 man as well as the active roster for Kent, so one way to do that would be to DFA Mikolas.

Nussbaum's article makes me think that the Nats think Kent is a better pitcher, mentioning "pitch-ability", even if we have been told that Perales has better stuff. Nussbaum does not even mention Perales, instead talking about Jarlin Susana.

Kent’s impact is far more immediate. Washington selected Kent in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, admiring his pitch-ability, command and extension. Throughout the 2025 season, coaches and executives in the organization spoke glowingly of those traits and his makeup, but thought he could continue to evolve. After an offseason of training at the University of Arizona and working with the Nationals’ revamped player development group in-season, he has added velocity to augment his four-pitch mix this year.

Though the farm system hasn’t developed many October-ready arms over the last decade, Kent offers mid-rotation upside. All four of his pitches have missed bats in Rochester. He has struck out about 10 batters per nine innings while walking just 2.9 per nine. He is regarded as one of the system’s most cerebral thinkers. And while his stuff does not pop on a radar gun or a computer screen, he has been able to get both right-handed and left-handed hitters out — something organizations consider when evaluating their starting pitching prospects.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Cerebral thinker? What the heck else does a pitcher think with?

Also, reminds me of one of my Ramones favorites:

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.federalbaseball.com/washington-nationals-news/93349/washington-nationals-calling-up-jackson-kent-here-what-need-know
Sam Sallick cites the Nusbaum report rather than a direct source. Says he sits 93-95, and his best pitch is his changeup. the change draws misses on 40% of hitters swings. Here  are a few more of his thoughts:

Honestly, Kent’s profile is a lot like Jake Bennett’s. As we know by now, Bennett was traded to the Red Sox in a deal that sent back Luis Perales. With Bennett having a lot of success as a rookie, this deal has been relitigated a lot these past couple months. Kent has a chance to make fans forget about Bennett though.

He has a polished four pitch mix, with a slider and curveball to go with the fastball/changeup combo. Kent has also shown very solid command in the minors throughout his minor league career. The 2024 4th rounder has walked 2.82 batters per 9 since entering pro ball.

For a guy with solid but not elite stuff, Kent has also been quite the strikeout artist. This season he has 105 strikeouts in 94.1 innings. Between his deceptive delivery, the nasty changeup and having enough juice on his heater, Kent can really rack up the strikeouts when he is on his game.

Also says that his ERA is high because, when he has the occasional off start, he blows up bad, like a lot of guys  who rely on command.

Interesting to me is that he views Kent as more of a Littell replacement rather than a Mikolas. That's possible if they decide to release Kranick to generate the 40 & 26 man roster spot. right now, the Nats are carrying a 9 man bullpen and 4 starters.

[GataNats]

Why the hell not DFA Mikolas?  Guy is an automatic loss, and is an antique

[Squab]

https://prospectsavant.com/player/800600
93.6 on the fastball, 35% usage. 30% slider is is hardest hit pitch, it looks like he has a gyro one, and then some of them get miscalculated as his curveball, which he probably throws a bit more then the 7% registered here. 25% changeup with a 40% whiff.

[bluestreak]

Why the hell not DFA Mikolas?  Guy is an automatic loss, and is an antique

Keep him for pinch hitting purposes

[Squab]

every pen needs a tungsten arm o doyle you throw when you don't want to burn someone valuable, i wonder how he'd do throwing 75 pitches on consecutive days

[blue911]

every pen needs a tungsten arm o doyle you throw when you don't want to burn someone valuable, i wonder how he'd do throwing 75 pitches on consecutive days

Miguel Batista

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.thebanner.com/sports/nationals-mlb/nationals-call-up-jackson-kent-UVPOO245IBAVPN54353BZZM2Z4/

Kyle Williams says  a source with the team confirmed Nusbaum's report.  Suggests the bullpen game Sunday was to let Kent pitch on normal rest as Littell's replacment in the rotation. No suggestion this is to replace  Mikolas. Someone has to be voted off the island / roster, so Kranick may be released (i/m/o)/.

Williams emphasize that Kent has excellent extension.

A fourth-round pick in 2024, Kent doesn’t light up radar guns, but he has a good changeup and knows how to pitch to his strengths. He’s seen a velocity increase this year, upping his average fastball to 93-95 mph. The jump has served him well and increased his likelihood of carving out a long major league career.

​...

​One of the biggest developments for Kent has been the increased extension he’s getting on the mound. Extension measures how far a pitcher releases the ball from the rubber — a longer extension cuts down on the hitter’s reaction time. Kent already boasted a long extension, but his improvement there could make him a formidable pitcher in the majors.

​And he needs every advantage he can get, because he can’t compensate with overpowering stuff. Having pinpoint command will be paramount for the 23-year-old’s big league success. But he generally limits walks and doesn’t allow hard contact, which should provide him a solid floor.

[Natsinpwc]

Something to look forward to.

[zimm_da_kid]

Looking forward to Kent.

Next year the rotation should be in a lot better shape.

1. Cavalli
2. Early
3-5 spots: 3 out of Herz/Kent/Cebert/Perales/Irvin/Parker

Susana and Sykora should be ready at some point mid/late next year too.

Barring a major turnaround at the end of this year, I’m guessing Irvin will be on the outs. Parker screams lefty long guy. Really, the opening day backend should be 3 out of the Herz/kent/Cebert/Perales group. Probably all but Cebert. I’d rather not make a rotation addition, especially when we have Susana/Sykora coming up behind this group. We’re not competing at the top of the market in FA. We ain’t getting as lucky as we did with griffin.

[imref]

Alvarez is arguably our #2 right now, let's not count him out next year. Lord could also argue for a rotation spot.

[zimm_da_kid]

Alvarez is arguably our #2 right now, let's not count him out next year. Lord could also argue for a rotation spot.

Aw freak. Forgot about Alvarez. He should definitely get a spot. The more I look at it, the more I see Irvin and Parker as odd men out.

Cavalli, early, Alvarez, and 2 out of Perales/kent/cebert/herz.

Any low money range guys we would go after would just block our young guys and get way too long of a leash.

[varoadking]

So, we all agree that Gray is never coming back?

[Slateman]

So, we all agree that Gray is never coming back?

Like this season? Probably not.

Ever? No, I predict he will pitch for the Washington Nationals at some point in the future.

[imref]

Per Butera (via Zuck): Plan is to stretch Lord out so he can either start or pitch in long relief.

[Slateman]

Per Butera (via Zuck): Plan is to stretch Lord out so he can either start or pitch in long relief.

Terrible mistake

[bluestreak]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Db8oqSkOCP3/?igsh=MThlNGc4YTAwd2t3ag==