It is now Opening Day eve, and while we are still waiting for an official announcement from the Washington Nationals regarding who will be included on the Opening Day roster, we were given a great tweet by ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan regarding a guy who was squarely on the roster bubble.
For a large part of the offseason, us here at District on Deck have been following the likelihood that current Nationals prospects like Robert Hassell III and Cole Henry would make the Opening Day roster. While both of them will be starting the season with AAA Rochester, another pitcher had his fate decided on Wednesday afternoon. That man is Brad Lord, who is currently ranked as the team's #23 overall prospect by MLB.com.
Lord, who was drafted in the 18th round back in 2022 out of the University of South Florida, has seen his stock rise dramatically over the last calendar year. He was not even ranked as a Top 30 prospect in the organization at this time last year, but ended the season ranked as the 30th prospect in the organization after his breakout at AA Harrisburg before being promoted to Rochester.
Part of his meteoric rise is that during this offseason, he actually worked at Home Depot in Bradenton, Florida, where he worked the late afternoon shift in order to help pay his bills and keep the lights on at his residence. The story goes that during the offseason, he would work with his trainer in the morning in Tampa, then would drive over to Bradenton to work at the store, where he found a new form of lifting weights, saying, "I mean, I guess lifting Christmas trees I got stronger, weird way to work out, but yeah." to Sports Illustrated.
From Home Depot to home opener: Washington right-hander Brad Lord, who worked at the home-improvement store moving mulch and Christmas trees over the winter, has made the Nationals and will be in the bullpen for Opening Day on Thursday against Philadelphia.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 26, 2025
And now, while we are still waiting for the club to announce who's spot he will be taking in the bullpen, speculation has already begun following Passan's announcement. It is presumed that he will be taking the spot of Jackson Rutledge, who was recently moved to the bullpen in what might be a last-ditch effort for the club to get the most value out of him.
It is interesting that Lord is going to make the club as a reliever, as he has spent his time in the minors working almost exclusively as a starter. Perhaps he will earn a spot start or two, but for him, I am pretty positive that he does not care at this point what role he has. He must be absolutely elated to be included on the Opening Day roster, and we are equally excited for him!
What do you think of Brad Lord making the Opening Day roster? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.