The Washington Nationals have made a ton of transactions throughout this season in an effort to rotate their organizational depth at multiple levels. Seemingly throughout the majority of the Nationals' team history, they have struggled with their bullpen's consistency, which has also carried into this season as well.
However, to give the team credit, their bullpen has been a lot better over the last few weeks, and the key to consistency for the Nationals now will be getting more consistency from their starting rotation, which got a much needed solid outing from Zack Littell on Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles. While the strikeouts were not there, he did well enough to keep his team in it, and the recently recalled Andrew Alvarez was very good in bulk relief as well.
Earlier this week, according to MLBTradeRumors, the Nationals inked veteran lefty reliever Alex Young to a minor league contract, an interesting signing that seemingly came out of nowhere. The lefty has a good amount of big league experience under his belt with 177 games, and has even started 25 of them, although he has appeared exclusively in relief for several years now.
Across the 177 games between 2019 and 2024 with multiple clubs, Young pitched to a 16-18 record with a 4.34 ERA and 1.408 WHIP with a 5.02 FIP. He debuted with the Arizona Diamondbacks after being a 2nd round pick of theirs in 2015, and spent a few years with them before finding his way over to the Cleveland Guardians after being claimed on waivers.
The next year, Young was traded to the San Francisco Giants for cash considerations, and was non-tendered after the 2022 season. Following that transaction, he bounced around to the Cincinnati Reds, back to the Giants, the New York Mets, and then back to the Reds, and he last appeared in the majors back in 2024.
In 2025 with the Reds, Young dealt with some unspecified elbow injuries that ultimately led to him getting surgery, although confirmation was never made about whether or not it was Tommy John Surgery. At this point, given that he is about 14 months post-operation, it will be interesting to see how far along he is in his recovery, and when he will be able to return to the mound.
What do you think of the Nationals signing Alex Young to a minor league deal? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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