Josiah Gray hasn’t pitched in the majors since April 2024, but he’ll get another shot in 2026. The Nationals agreed to a one-year, $1.35 million deal with the right-hander on Friday, avoiding arbitration and keeping him under club control through 2027. The deal matches the salary Gray earned in 2025.
Right-hander Josiah Gray and the Washington Nationals are in agreement on a one-year, $1.35 million deal to avoid arbitration, a source tells ESPN. Gray missed all of 2025 after elbow surgery and will make the same money as this year. He will be ready to pitch in spring training.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 12, 2025
The Reds drafted Gray in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of then-Division II Le Moyne College. The 6-foot-1, 210-pounder from New Rochelle, New York had transitioned from shortstop to pitcher.
Forearm soreness shut down Gray two starts into the 2024 season. He later received a UCL tear diagnosis and underwent Tommy John surgery in July of that year. Gray missed the entire 2025 big league season as well.
He made three rehab starts in September 2025, pitching for High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester. He pitched 5.2 scoreless innings across those outings, striking out five, walking five and giving up four hits. He didn’t make it back to the big league roster before the season ended. However, he is expected to have a normal offseason and be ready for spring training.
Gray, the Nationals’ lone All-Star in 2023, finished the year with a 3.91 ERA across 30 starts. The surface numbers looked solid, but the underlying stats weren’t quite as strong. His FIP sat near 5.00, his xERA was 5.03 and he posted one of the highest walk rates among qualified starters. Nonetheless, he entered 2024 as one of the club’s best players and a key part of the young core, earning the Opening Day start before injuries derailed his season.
Josiah Gray is an All-Star. 🥺
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 2, 2023
🌟 @JGrayy_ 🌟 pic.twitter.com/HbUmKOkkGj
Gray came to Washington from the Dodgers in the 2021 Scherzer-Turner trade, which has turned out to be a pretty underwhelming return for the Nationals. Gray and Keibert Ruiz were supposed to be long-term building blocks, but neither has broken through. And the other two prospects from the deal, Gerardo Carrillo and Donovan Casey, are no longer in the organization.
Since arriving, Gray has had an up-and-down run. His career stat line includes a 4.84 ERA over 386.2 innings, with 382 strikeouts and a 1.42 WHIP. Although expected to be a steady piece in the rotation alongside MacKenzie Gore, Gray’s injuries and inconsistency make that harder to project.
Now nearly 18 months removed from surgery, Gray is looking to reestablish himself in the Nationals’ rotation. He’ll turn 28 on Sunday and has two years of arbitration left after this one.
Washington still has five other arbitration-eligible players to address: CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli, Jake Irvin and Luis García Jr. So far, only Gray and Riley Adams have reached deals.
Uncertainty still lingers around the future of the Nats’ pitching staff, but bringing Gray back on a cheap, one-year, low-risk deal gives the rotation another option. He’s far from a sure thing, but if the 2023 version of Gray (or something better) shows up, he could give the Nationals' rotation a real boost.