Washington Nationals: 3 back end pitchers for the rotation
The Washington Nationals are going to be in the market for a back of the rotation starter. They are every year. In previous years, Anibal Sanchez and Jon Lester have been brought in, with varying levels of success. The year in between, in house solutions were used in Austin Voth and Erick Fedde.
Behind Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, and Josiah Gray, there are no locks for the rotation. Paolo Espino will get a look. Josh Rogers will get a look. Fedde will get his annual tryout. There are a few guys to be had cheap or on minor league contracts who can come in and eat innings, while providing some stability for the rotation.
A team can never have too much starting pitching. While the Nats won’t be in the market for the services of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, there are a few names out there which are intriguing.
3 pitchers the Nationals should consider for the back of the starting rotation.
Chris Archer
Past his prime, oft-injured, nothing left in the tank. All three of these have been murmured about Chris Archer. He didn’t pitch in 2020 because of injury and only appeared in six games in 2021. In those games he was under a strict pitch limit, going more than sixty pitches just one time.
There were signs (albeit brief) Archer could still be the pitcher which earned him two All-Star nods earlier in his career. His pitching coach during that time frame was Jim Hickey. This past year with the Rays, Archer struck out more batters than innings pitched and aside from one outing, had great control, and a solid strike/ball ratio.
Bringing Archer in to reunite with his old pitching coach may bring a resurrection or sorts for the right hander. Nationals general manager, Mike Rizzo, has shown he isn’t afraid to sign pitchers off the scrap heap. Archer fits this bill and is worth a look.
Tanner Roark
Remember this guy? He won 64 games in a Nationals uniform, and earned Cy Young votes after his 16 win season in 2016. Tanner Roark pitched 210 innings that year with a WHIP of 1.17. Well, he has been mediocre to terrible since. Why would the Nats want him back then?
Roark pitched at least 180 innings four times during his time in DC. He can chew up innings from the back end of the rotation. Yes, Roark is three years removed from throwing that many innings, though in 2021, the Nationals had one pitcher (Patrick Corbin) throw more than 135 innings. Nationals relievers were overused last year. Roark can help save innings for the bullpen.
Towards the end of the 2021 season, Sean Nolin was getting starts. Roark has a better track record and a history in Washington. Bring him in for a look and see what he can do getting back to the place he experienced the most success of his big league career.
Roark can be had on a minor league contract, and after he makes the team out of camp, have a bearded bobble head giveaway the second month of the season. Try to soak as many innings out of that arm, and play to the nostalgic Nationals fans to get them in the seats for his starts.
Carlos Martinez
Carlos Martinez has pitched for one organization and one organization only. For the St. Louis Cardinals, Martinez has been a starter then a closer. He also sat out the final three-plus months of the 2021 season after having surgery on a ligament tear in his right thumb.
Prior to the injury, Martinez was terrible for the Red Birds. He had games where he gave up 10 earned runs and 8 earned runs, respectively (so did Joe Ross, and Patrick Corbin came very close). Martinez struggled to locate pitches, walking too many hitters, too many times out. In his final two outings prior to landing on the injured list, Martinez gave up one run in back to back starts.
There is potential with Martinez and he can be had at a respectable rate, coming off an injury. The Nationals are not in the market to sign pitchers to multi-year contracts, or to break the bank. Martinez can sign a one-year contract in hopes of showing teams he can still pitch, setting him up for a better contract the following season. He is an ultimate low risk-high reward, signing.
One thing Mike Rizzo has proven during his time with the Nationals, is he is willing to bring in arms and have them compete for jobs in the spring. This offseason will be no different.
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