After a dominant minor league season a year ago, Brad Lord made himself a candidate to make his major league debut in 2025 but was not expected to crack the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day roster. However, injuries to DJ Herz and Zach Brzykcy, along with Lord’s strong spring training performance, forced the Nationals’ hand and suddenly Lord found himself in DC just months after famously working at Home Depot.
Lord began the season as a reliever but was thrust into a starting role after only three appearances following Michael Soroka’s injury. He fared well in his first stint as a major league starting pitcher, especially considering four of his six starts came against the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cleveland Guardians. Lord was relegated to the bullpen once Soroka returned on May 7, a role he remains in today.
Since returning to the bullpen, Lord has only reached 30 pitches once, which is notable after he threw 93 pitches in his final start. Based on the Nats’ current circumstances, Lord should remain stretched out to start if needed.
Early in the season, we have seen Lord, Cole Henry, and Jackson Rutledge each fill a long relief role. While Henry and Rutledge have succeeded in this role, these situations should be left to Lord as long as he is available. Henry and Rutledge have impressed in their first season as full-time relievers, while Lord is filling more of a swingman role. As two of Dave Martinez’s most reliable relief options, Henry and Rutledge should be pitching in high leverage situations, leaving the long relief opportunities to Lord.
With Josiah Gray and Herz rehabbing from Tommy John Surgery, Henry and Rutledge being converted to relievers, and Cade Cavalli building back up after a lengthy absence, the Nats are lacking starting pitching depth. In the case of an injury, Lord is far and away their best option, evidenced by Andry Lara being the extra player for the double header in Colorado despite clearly not being major league ready yet.
Pitchers can be fragile, as the Nats have seen firsthand, and Soroka has proven to be especially susceptible to injuries throughout his career. Sooner than later, a starting pitcher is likely to require a stint on the injured list. In the event of an injury, Lord will almost certainly be the next man up. Because of this, he should remain stretched out and ready to join the rotation without warning.
There is also an argument for Lord replacing Trevor Williams in the rotation. Williams has struggled to begin the season, pitching to a 6.39 ERA. He was a dominant starter last year when healthy, and that small sample size was the most effective period of his career aside from his time as a reliever in 2021 and 2022. Between his rocky start to 2025 and his prior success as a reliever, the Nats should keep an open mind about Lord potentially replacing Williams in the rotation at some point.
Whether it is to replace an injured starter or an ineffective veteran, Brad Lord will almost certainly return to the starting rotation at some point this year. To remain stretched out to start, and save the bullpen in the meantime, Lord should be consistently pitching multiple innings. Anything less is setting Lord and the rest of the pitching staff up for failure.