Before the Washington Nationals were embarrassed at the hands of the visiting Boston Red Sox for the second consecutive game on Saturday afternoon, the team continued their recent trend of shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic. With the team's bullpen situation continuing to be a dire one, perhaps this latest move will have a positive effect.
The Nationals sent down righty Zach Brzykcy, a former Virginia Tech Hokie who struggled to a 7.40 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in 23 appearances for the Nationals to AAA Rochester, where he will look to make some much-needed adjustments. Additionally, righty reliever Derek Law was transferred to the 60-day IL after suffering another setback in his rehab.
The setback has now thrown a wrench into the status of Law for the rest of the season, as with him already being out on a rehab assignment, the hope was that he would be able to return before too long and help shore up the team's struggling bullpen. As of now, that will not be the case, and the main concern now is whether or not the team will even get to see Law suit up before the end of the year.
However, there was some positive news to report, as righty reliever Mason Thompson, who has not made a big league appearance since 2023, is being reinstated and recalled to the Nationals. After battling numerous injuries, including undergoing Tommy John Surgery for the 2nd time in his career. He had recently been out on a rehab assignment across multiple levels, and the team felt like he had earned his shot to get back to the big leagues.
This is a big development for Thompson, who is now 27-years-old and was a former trade acquisition from the San Diego Padres, and will be looking to establish himself as a back-end bullpen option for Davey Martinez and the Nationals. Thompson certainly has some potential, as evidenced by his 2.92 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 24 games for the Nationals in 2022, but it has been a long time since he has taken that form.
He started the year strong in 2023, but then began to experience some serious regression and a large dip in velocity before it was announced that he would have to get TJ for the 2nd time. His numbers with AAA Rochester were solid in his 2 appearances, as he did not allow an earned run and struck out 4 batters in just 2.0 innings of work.
Hopefully, he can emerge as a new member of Davey Martinez' "A-Bullpen," as rookies Brad Lord and Cole Henry have flashed potential but have had their fair share of struggles recently as all rookies do over the course of a big league season. The team has had an issue being able to bridge the gap to closer Kyle Finnegan in close games, and hopefully Thompson can help nullify that issue.
Are you excited to see Mason Thompson back in the fold? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.