Although 2025 spring training for the Washington Nationals has not produced a ton of drama or incredibly surprising storylines outside of the emergence of Robert Hassell III, the club has now decided to move a once-promising young righty to the bullpen. This move comes on the heels of moving another arm to the bullpen in righty Cole Henry.
Despite being the club's 1st round draft pick back in 2019, things have not exactly been easy on Jackson Rutledge as he attempts to make his mark within the organization. The 6'8" righty made his MLB debut back in late 2023, but now potentially finds himself on his last stand to prove himself as a big leaguer with the club that drafted him.
After getting his feet wet in the majors in that 2023 season, making 4 starts to close out the season and finishing with an unimpressive 6.75 ERA in just 20.0 innings, Rutledge failed to make the team out of spring training in 2024, and did not make it back to the big league club until May, where he made 1 relief appearance before being sent back down to AAA Rochester.
He would be brought back up in mid-July for a spot start against the Brewers, where he threw 4.2 innings and allowed just 1 earned run while striking out 6 and walking a pair of batters. He would not make another appearance in the majors until he made a relief appearance against the Phillies in late September, throwing 2.2 innings of innings of shutout ball.
Now, at just 25-years-old, Rutledge faces a move to the bullpen that is an attempt to give him the best chance to succeed in the organization going forward, as the righty has been passed up on the organizational depth chart by other starting pitchers such as Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz, and even others who have yet to debut such as Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Brad Lord, and Tyler Stuart.
The move to the bullpen should benefit Rutledge, who can now focus on exerting more energy into just an inning of work and reach higher velocities such as 96 or 97 MPH, according to manager Davey Martinez, rather than starting a game sitting in the lower 90s as he would attempt to save energy for later innings. We saw a bullpen transition work wonders in short notice for Cole Henry already this spring, and we can only hope that the move will have a similar effect on Rutledge, and perhaps we will see him get a chance in the big leagues sooner rather than later.
What do you think of the Nationals moving Jackson Rutledge to the bullpen? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.