The Nationals are giving Erik Tolman his first shot on a major league mound.
Washington selected the contract of the left-hander on Tuesday, filling the 40-man roster spot that was open. In the corresponding move, right-hander Yovanny Cruz was optioned to Triple-A Rochester.
Tolman’s path to this point has been anything but straight. He had Tommy John surgery in 2021 while at Arizona State University, and the Nationals still drafted him that summer in the 14th round. After 14 months of rehab, he tore his ulnar collateral ligament again and needed another surgery.
He returned to the mound in 2023, only to run into another brutal setback. At the start of a game, he tried to jump over the foul line, got his foot stuck in the turf, and suffered major damage to his lower body.
As Tolman told David Laurila of FanGraphs, “It was a torn ACL, a torn PCL, a torn LCL, the hamstring tore off the bone,” Tolman said. “And then the more serious damage was the nerve damage in my right foot.
The peroneal nerve ruptured, which resulted in a foot drop. It was paralyzed for over a year.
I had surgery to fix it, so now I’m only limited in my mobility. I can only go up and down.
I can’t go in or out at all, and I still can’t feel the top of my foot. I had to teach myself to walk again.
I basically had to rewire my brain in order to walk, run, or even drive.”
Tolman threw just 28 minor league innings in 2023 and then missed all of 2024 because of the foot and leg injury. Last year, he finally got back to work and handled 95 2/3 innings across 33 appearances, including 13 starts, while splitting time between Hugh-A and Double-A. He posted a 3.67 ERA and struck out 24.1% of the hitters he faced, though his 13.5% walk rate was on the high side.
This season, the Nationals have used him strictly out of the bullpen. He has made 32 Triple-A appearances, with one officially listed as a start even though it was really just a one-inning opener. In 31 total innings, he has a 5.23 ERA, a 16.3% walk rate, a 29.8% strikeout rate and a 53.3% ground-ball rate.
Tolman does have a full slate of options, so a move back and forth to Triple-A could still be in his future. For now, though, he’s reached the majors after fighting through one obstacle after another.
In Other News...
Nationals Prospects Are Forcing Tough Questions After A Mixed Night
Rochesters 8-7 win over Omaha was the bright spot in a mixed night across the Nationals farm system, but the broader picture was more uneven. Harrisburg fell 8-6 to Akron in 10 innings, Wilmington lost 4-1 to Frederick, Fredericksburg dropped a 4-1 decision to Kannapolis, and the DSL Nationals finished their season with a 6-4 defeat, leaving a full slate of results that offered just enough good to keep scouts interested and enough missed chances to keep the questions coming.
Even with the losses piling up, there were still individual performances worth tracking as the organization tries to sort out who is trending up and who still needs work. The night also brought roster movement, with Thomas Schultz landing on the 7-Day Injured List and Blake Brown returning from the Development List, reminders that the developmental grind never really stops even when the box scores get messy. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals Collapse Is Fueling A Bigger Debate About This Team
The slide that has followed Washington since the start of its series against Toronto has only sharpened the sense that this is more than a rough patch. The Nationals have gone 6-15 in that stretch, and the trade deadline only deepened the uncertainty, with Luis Garcia Jr., Foster Griffin and a top right-handed bat sent out for prospects and injured players as the organization leaned further into the future.
James Woods injury has been another hit to a lineup already trying to find some traction, and the decision to move CJ Abrams off shortstop has added another layer to the conversation around the rosters direction. Taken together, the results, the deadline moves and the shifting pieces on the field have turned a downturn into something bigger, with the club now trying to answer what kind of team it is becoming while the losses keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Nationals May Have An Unexpected Catching Answer Developing In Triple A
Maxwell Romero Jr. has turned his July promotion to Triple-A Rochester into one of the more interesting developments in the Nationals catching pipeline. The 2022 draftee has hit .292 with seven home runs in 21 games, and the power numbers have been backed by the kinds of batted-ball indicators that usually get a front offices attention. For a player who was not long ago just another name in the system, that kind of surge is enough to make people take a second look.
Romeros rise still comes with real questions attached, though, which is why the next step feels so important. The offense has shown impact, but the swing-and-miss remains part of the profile, and the gap between loud contact and reliable contact is exactly the sort of thing that can decide whether a hot stretch becomes something more lasting. If the Nationals are looking for a catcher who can force his way into the conversation, Rochester will keep offering clues about whether Romero can be that player. [Read more 🡒]