The Nationals returned Rule 5 Draft pick RHP Evan Reifert to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced on social media on Tuesday. Reifert excelled at Double-A Montgomery in 2024 in Tampa Bay's system, posting an elite 30.4 K-BB% in 35 outings as mostly a single-inning arm. That compelled Washington to take a flier on him at the Winter Meetings. Reifert used his 80-grade slider to generate whiffs on all seven swings against batters in his first spring outing on February 25.
Unfortunately for Reifert, his spring would fall apart shortly thereafter, as the walk issues he struggled with in 2023 reared their head, and he finished seven outings having walked 30.8% of the batters he faced (12 in 6.1 IP). Nationals manager Davey Martinez even seemingly implied that he might not make the Opening Day roster a few days ago, and now we have seen that prediction come to fruition. The Nationals made the call to return him to the Rays, receiving back half of the $100,000 they paid the organization to draft him. Reifert will likely begin the season at either Double-A Montgomery or Triple-A Durham as the 2018 30th round pick tries to find a way to the majors in Tampa.
The move clears up more questions for the Opening Day roster, as just 17 pitchers of the required 13 to make the roster are left in major league camp, with Cade Cavalli (and likely DJ Herz) starting the year at Triple-A, and Zach Brzykcy either joining them or hitting the injured list as he looks to work his way back from leg discomfort. FanGraphs Roster Resource paints a pretty compelling image of what the pitching staff will look like come Opening Day. That would make Jackson Rutledge, who recently made the move to the bullpen, the final odd man out, using up his final option year.
Reifert's return to the Tampa Bay organization also clears up the spot he occupied on the team's secondary 40-man roster, leaving it now at 39. Realistically, that paves the way for non-roster invitee Colin Poche to make his way onto the roster. Poche was non-tendered by those same Rays this past offseason ahead of his final year of arbitration following a lackluster season. He doesn't project to be much more valuable this season with the Nationals, but is important veteran depth (and a low-leverage left-hander for Davey Martinez), which teams always place value on, especially when said veterans are out of options like Poche is. Poche has made 4 appearances this spring for the team, struggling with walk issues but striking out 8 of the 19 batters he's faced.