On September 8th, the 2026 Washington Nationals set a Major League Baseball all-time single-season record, and they're less than proud of it: their 38th team blown save. Of course, not all blown saves have been attributed to one pitcher. The team's problems this year stem from their blown-save record.
While the Nationals' starters who remain on the team post-trade deadline haven't performed well either, their batters have performed extremely well. Looking forward to the offseason, the Nationals need to focus on bringing in a superb reliever who is willing to help a current bottom-feeder team in the Nationals to make a push to where they were pre-2020, in the discussion for the postseason, in which they won the World Series in 2019.
2 Nationals players who won't be on the roster after this season
Clayton Beeter
As of just a couple days ago, Clayton Beeter is actually currently in the minors because of his poor performance; he has been charged with seven of the Nationals' 38 blown saves this season and hasn't been doing great overall. In 50 appearances this season, across 48.0 innings, Beeter has accumulated a 4.50 ERA, making his ERA+ 97, three points below league average. He has also walked 5.8 batters per nine innings, which you don't want to see from a reliever.
He has had a mediocre strikeouts-per-nine (8.8), which is slightly encouraging to see, but it is what you sort of expect from a reliever with a much smaller sample size than a starting pitcher, who needs longevity in his appearances. Beeter has allowed 6.8 hits per nine innings, another great signifier of his poor performance this season. Clayton Beeter does not deserve a spot in the team's rebuilding by any stretch of the imagination because of his poor numbers this season.
Jake Irvin
On the starting pitching front, one of the longer-tenured Nationals, Jake Irvin, who debuted at the big league level with the team in 2023, has been a disappointment this season. Starting with the basics, in 20 games (19 games started), he holds a 2-9 record, with an ERA of 5.51 (78 ERA+). Irvin has spent time on the injured list this season with a right shoulder strain; it's disappointing to see a starting pitcher with such a lopsided record.
The Nationals usually rotate through players fast, and maybe it is Jake Irvin's time to be on another team, either through designating him for assignment or trading him in the offseason, because there could be another team that believes in him and can redevelop him, just like the Nationals did with Foster Griffin this season before trading him to the Cleveland Guardians.
Add us as a preferred source on Google