The Washington Nationals have been rolling right along through spring training 2026. There has been a lot of guys that both performed well and gotten off to slow starts, and it will be interesting to see how the team ends up shaking out by the time they take the field in 13 days from now in Chicago.
One of the most fascinating parts of big league camp so far has been trying to figure out the starting rotation thus far, as the team has a mixture of incument arms who were vying for their same spots as well as some newer additions as well. The Nationals seemingly had too many arms for too little spots, but the team is now revealing their plans.
With Cade Cavalli being named the Opening Day starter this week, one spot out of the rotation had already been cemented. The signings of veterans like Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas to 1-year deals seemingly had 2 other spots locked up, leaving a handful of arms to occupy the final 2 spots.
Among those battling for those final spots were Jake Irvin, Josiah Gray, Andrew Alvarez, and Mitchell Parker, who had all had moments of success so far in camp. However, the Nationals made their first round of cuts regarding their starting rotation, and we now know that a trio of lefties will be going down to the minors to begin 2026.
The big surprise of those 3 lefties was Mitchell Parker, who had spent the large part of the last 2 seasons as part of the rotation for the Nationals. Besides Parker, Andrew Alvarez, a guy who surprised in a good way to end last season, was also sent down, as was lefty Jake Eder, who struggled with inconsistency in his first spring camp with the Nationals.
The Nationals have made the following roster moves:
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) March 13, 2026
Optioned to Triple-A Rochester
-LHP Andrew Alvarez
-LHP Jake Eder
-LHP Mitchell Parker
Reassigned to Minor League camp
-RHP Trevor Gott
-INF Seaver King
-INF Trey Lipscomb
-1B Matt Mervis
The demotion of Parker is a little bit unexpected but not terribly surprising, as he struggled mightily last season after getting off to a fantastic start. Parker had pitched to only a 4.91 ERA so far this spring, but more concerningly he had 5 walks compared to just 3 strikeouts, leading to a 1.64 WHIP.
Perhaps we could see Parker return as a reliever, but the Nationals will likely want the 26-year-old to spend some time working on his mechanics in the minors before giving him another crack at the big leagues. At the very least, he should be on a short list of guys who will come up to Washington in case of a starting pitching injury.
What do you think of Mitchell Parker being optioned to AAA Rochester? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.