Jarlin Susana is back on the mound, and the Nationals are finally getting a fresh look at one of the biggest arms in their system after a season that hit the organization hard.
Washington’s 2025 year went off the rails in plenty of ways, but the damage in the farm system was especially brutal. Travis Sykora, the Nationals’ top pitching prospect, is done for the year because of Tommy John surgery. Susana, meanwhile, has returned from lat surgery and is back in action after a long layoff.
The Nationals have eased him in carefully. Susana didn’t return until August, and he has been held to six starts and just 14 total innings. Even in that tiny sample, the full package has shown up - the good, the wild, and the electric.
The first thing that jumps out is the raw stuff. In his first outing back, Susana’s fastball was humming at 101-103, and he paired it with sharp sliders that matched the hype. That kind of power from the right side stands out in any era, even one built around velocity.
The stat line is messy, but the underlying production tells a different story. Susana has a 5.14 ERA, yet he has piled up 28 strikeouts in those 14 innings. That works out to a 45.2 K%, which is the kind of number that looks absurd on paper.
The indicators beneath the surface are even stronger. Susana’s FIP sits at 2.68, and his xFIP is 2.43, both of which point to an ERA that’s been inflated.
A .391 BABIP suggests some bad luck has played a role, too. The results haven’t fully caught up to the stuff.
Control remains the question mark. Susana has walked seven batters and hit three more in those 14 innings.
Even so, his 11.3% walk rate is an improvement over where he was in 2025, when it sat at 13.9%. If he can keep that number near 10%, his odds of sticking as a starter go up.
That’s the real fork in the road for him, along with health. The arm talent is obvious enough that big league success feels inevitable in some form.
But as the examples of Yovanny Cruz and Luis Perales show, sheer velocity alone doesn’t solve everything. Susana, though, brings more than just heat.
His fastball is harder, his slider is nastier, and he’s tougher to square up.
That’s why there’s real chatter about whether Washington should give him a bullpen look before the season ends. He’ll need to be added to the 40-man roster after the year anyway, so there’s a case for getting him into a big league game or two. A few extra appearances would also help him keep building innings.
He hasn’t pitched above Double-A, but his stuff is already beyond dispute. Big league hitters are going to miss his pitches. Skipping over Triple-A isn’t unheard of, either, and recent examples include Kade Anderson and Josue De Paula.
With the season lost and the bullpen able to use whatever help it can get, there isn’t much downside. Susana’s arrival would also bring plenty of attention, because when he’s locked in, he’s hard to ignore.
Part of the appeal is the sheer size of him. Susana is listed at 6’6 235 pounds on the MILB website, though the Nationals media guide has him at 6’7 283 pounds.
If he had been born in America, he’d probably be a left tackle in the NFL. Watching that kind of body work from the mound is part of what makes him so striking.
The next step is simple: get him as many innings as possible before next season. A few big league outings down the stretch could help. The Double-A season ends this week, so a call-up after that is at least possible.
The Arizona Fall League would make sense, too, since it would give him more chances to work. And from a pure curiosity standpoint, that would be a fun one to track - the pitch metrics on an arm like this would be something else.
For now, Susana’s 14 innings have delivered exactly what you’d expect: a glimpse of a pitcher who looks like a true outlier. If he stays healthy and sharpens the command even a little, he has top-of-the-rotation upside.
If that doesn’t fully happen, the bullpen path is still there. Either way, the Nationals are happy to have him back.
He’s a unicorn on the mound.
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