The Washington Nationals are giving Trevor Williams a new lane as he comes off the injured list, and the timing could hardly be more important for a staff that has been searching for help.
The club announced that the right-hander was reinstated from the 60-day IL after completing a rehab assignment. To make room, Washington optioned right-handed reliever Gus Varland to Triple-A Rochester. Williams is now lined up to appear in a major league game for the first time since July 2, 2025, when a partial tear in his UCL led to the internal brace procedure.
What makes this return interesting is not just that Williams is back, but how the Nationals plan to use him. According to Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic, the early idea is to deploy him out of the bullpen in bulk relief. That fits with the team’s decision to send left-handed pitcher Andrew Alvarez back to the minors, as Washington continues to look for any workable bullpen depth it can find.
Williams has spent most of his career as a starter, but relief work is not completely new territory. The only previous stretch of his big league career as a reliever came in 2022 with the New York Mets, when he posted a 2.47 ERA in 21 bullpen appearances. He also made nine starts that season and had a 4.19 ERA in those outings.
Still, there’s plenty of uncertainty about what Washington will get now. Williams struggled in 2025 before the injury, putting up a 6.21 ERA in 17 starts. The year before, though, he was excellent for the Nationals, turning in a 2.03 ERA across 13 starts before a right flexor strain sent him to the injured list in early June.
The Nationals are not expecting him to rescue the pitching staff on his own. Williams has been slowed by a flexor strain and the partial UCL tear, and he has made only 30 starts over the last three seasons combined. But with Washington still looking for bulk innings, the team is betting he can fill a real need in a different role than the one he’s mostly known for.
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