The Washington Nationals will begin a 3-game series tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates at home in DC, and they are looking to keep up their recent winning ways following road series victories over both the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox. The Pirates come into Washington with an even .500 record, while the Nationals come in at 2 games above the mark.
Luckily for the Nationals, they will not have to deal with superstar righty Paul Skenes in the series, but they will still have to deal with the rest of a talented Pirates rotation. For the Pirates, they are scheduled to line up against Foster Griffin, Zack Littell, and Miles Mikolas, although we will have to see if Mikolas makes his next start due to a pending suspension for his role in the scuffle with the Boston Red Sox earlier this week.
Although unlikely, with all of the potential pitching changes coming up due to suspensions, perhaps the Natioanls might soon be able to get a look at one of the newest members of the organization.
Nationals acquire bullpen depth from Orioles in first-ever trade between teams
Believe it or not, despite over 20 years of sharing the Beltway and being interleague rivals with one another, the Nationals and Orioles had never once made a trade. That all changed 2 days ago, as the Nationals went out and added some necessary bullpen depth from the Orioles in the form of righty Kyle Nicolas.
The 27-year-old Nicolas had last appeared in the majors for the Cincinnati Reds earlier this season, although his results were pretty brutal. He owned just a 8.59 ERA and 2.86 WHIP in 7 appearances spanning 7.1 innings, and he also struck out just 7 batters compared to 13 walks. However, he had shown signs of being a competent reliever in both 2024 and 2025 with the Pirates, so perhaps the Nationals can get some of that potential out of him.
Nicolas posted a 3.95 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in 2024, followed by a 4.74 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 2024, while also having K:BB ratios of 55:31 and 34:18 in each respective year. The righty was added to the 40-man roster for the Nationals, with Mitchell Parker being transferred to the 60-day Injured List as a corresponding move.
All the Nationals gave up in return was infielder Randal Diaz, a 23-year-old former 5th-rounder of the Nationals back in the 2024 draft out of Indiana State. He had a .766 OPS at High-A Wilmington so far this season, but due to the Nationals' current logjam of middle infield prospects, was not very high on the team's radar.
What do you think of the Nationals acquiring Kyle Nicolas from the Orioles? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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