The Nationals are finally getting some encouraging news on the pitching front, and Josiah Gray is the latest arm to take a meaningful step forward.
According to Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic, Gray is scheduled to pitch Tuesday for Single-A Fredericksburg, marking his first game action of the season. It’s an important checkpoint for the right-hander, who has been working back after a long and frustrating stretch away from the mound.
Gray’s path back has not been simple. He underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2024, then returned to pitch in three games for Washington’s minor league affiliates in September.
He never got back to the big league mound, though, and this spring seemed to offer a fresh start. He was healthy in camp, but the Nationals opted to send him to Triple-A Rochester to open the year with a plan to let him sharpen up there before using him in the majors when he was ready.
That plan got interrupted when Gray suffered a flexor strain and landed on the 60-day injured list.
Because he has been out so long, there’s plenty of uncertainty about what Gray will look like once he’s back in a live game. Still, the fact that he’s beginning a rehab assignment at least puts him on the path toward a possible return to Washington later this season.
The Nationals’ injuries and transactions page is less optimistic, listing his projected timetable as sometime in late-September or even in 2027. That would obviously be a tough outcome for a pitcher the club has been waiting on, but the caution makes sense given the combination of Tommy John recovery and the later flexor strain.
If Gray comes through this assignment without any setbacks, the next question becomes how Washington would use him. With Brad Lord seemingly getting a chance to join the rotation to finish the year, one possibility is that Gray could end up in the bullpen as a long reliever if he’s healthy enough to return.
For now, though, this is all about the first step: staying healthy in Fredericksburg. If that goes smoothly, Gray could finally make it back to the majors for the first time since 2024.
In Other News...
Nationals Prospects Are Forcing Tough Questions After A Mixed Night
The Nationals farm system had a little of everything in its latest round of games, and not much of it came easily. Rochester edged Omaha 8-7, Harrisburg fell 8-6 to Akron in 10 innings, Wilmington and Fredericksburg both dropped 4-1 decisions, and the DSL Nationals closed out their season with a 6-4 loss. There were also the usual small-sample reminders of how quickly things can change in the minors, from pitching performances that helped keep games within reach to the roster churn that sent Thomas Schultz to the 7-Day Injured List and brought Blake Brown back from the Development List.
The broader takeaway for Washington is less about one nights win-loss tally than the constant sorting that comes with prospect development. Every box score seems to add another layer to the evaluation, whether it is a close game that turns late or a lineup that struggles to finish chances. With the DSL season now wrapped and the lower levels continuing to shuffle pieces, the organization is left juggling performance, health and availability at once, the kind of mix that can make even a mixed night feel important. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals May Have A Surprising Plan For Luis Perales
The Nationals appear to be taking a patient approach with their upper-level pitching depth, at least for now, as they hold back top prospect Seaver King in Triple-A Rochester for more development time. That leaves the organization looking at other ways to get arms into the big leagues, and Luis Perales has emerged as an intriguing name to watch after arriving from the Red Sox in the trade pipeline.
Perales has been used in a variety of roles in the minors, which gives Washington some flexibility if it decides to bring him up before much longer. With the current rotation structure seemingly intact, his first taste of major league action could come in a different role than some might expect, depending on how the Nationals map out the rest of the staff and the roster in the days ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals May Have An Unexpected Catching Answer Developing In Triple A
Maxwell Romero Jr. has made a noticeable jump since landing at Triple-A Rochester in July, giving the Nationals something worth tracking behind the plate. The 2022 draft pick has hit .292 with seven home runs in 21 games, and the underlying numbers back up the surge enough to make him more than a brief hot hand. His hard-hit and barrel rates have been eye-catching, the kind of production that can force a team to take a closer look at a catcher who was not previously on the front-burner in Washingtons system.
Romeros rise still comes with real questions attached, though, and that is what makes the coming months interesting for the Nationals. The swing has produced damage, but the contact quality has also come with a whiff-heavy profile and shaky in-zone results, leaving open the possibility that the bat could look very different once pitchers make the next adjustment. For a club always looking for answers at catcher, he has at least put himself into the conversation, even if the shape of that answer is not settled yet. [Read more 🡒]