Part of the organization since 2018, Austin Voth spent the last five years in the majors with Washington before being DFAed Tuesday.
In the middle of a rebuild, Washington has had a long leash with plenty of their players, allowing them to fight through their growing pains — giving them extra opportunities when other clubs wouldn’t be able to afford to. Reliever Austin Voth is a prime example. After posting a 3.30 ERA in 43 2/3 innings in 2019, he was never able to replicate his success and was shifted from the rotation to the bullpen.
After posting a 5.34 ERA last year, Voth has continued to regress, posting a 10.13 ERA in 18 2/3 innings. His lackluster results have led to Washington finally reaching their breaking point with the righty, with the righty being DFAed Tuesday. In his stead, relievers Jordan Weems and Francisco Pérez were promoted to the majors, while Andrés Machado was optioned to AAA.
Voth’s 2022 season can be broken into three parts. He started off the year allowing five runs across his first three appearances, before only allowing one run across his next 11 games. Unfortunately, he allowed 15 runs across his last 5 games, including three against the Mets in his last appearance.
DFAing Voth marks the end of his five-year tenure in D.C. Drafted by the Washington Nationals in the fifth round of the 2013 draft, Austin Voth made his MLB debut with the club in 2018 — finishing the season 1-1, with a 6.57 ERA across 12 innings. Ravaged by injuries, Voth was called back up in 2019 to help bolster the Nats rotation. That year he finished with a career-low in FIP, while posting career lows in H/9 (6.8), HR/9 (1.0), and BB/9 (2.7).
His success gave way to high expectations, unfortunately, he was never able to take advantage of his ample opportunities. In five years in D.C., he went 9-8, with a 5.70 ERA, 176 strikeouts, and a 5.13 FIP in 181 2/3 innings.
Since 2020, he has struggled with command and had been plagued by the long ball, something that wasn’t an issue in 2019. This year he’s lowered the number of free passes he’s allowed, but instead, opponents have been teeing off of him at a high clip. His H/9 is a career-worst 16.4.
Now, Voth will go to waivers and if he goes unclaimed, he will have the choice to elect free agency or report to the minors with Washington.