The Washington Nationals were sellers at the trade deadline, as expected. The Nats traded away players on expiring contracts like Michael Soroka and Kyle Finnegan for minor league roster depth. While gaining depth in the minor leagues is a positive, it comes at the cost of players on your 25-man roster. One of the players traded away at the deadline was a starting pitcher in Soroka, who was sent to the Chicago Cubs for two prospects in return. While it was the right move to trade Soroka, who is supposed to fill his spot in the rotation?
The Nationals have seen a few of their starting pitchers take a step back in their development this season. Mitchell Parker currently owns a 5.35 ERA and 1.47 WHIP, and Jake Irvin is not much better at 4.89 and 1.33, according to baseball-reference.com. This is a troubling development for the Nats. Before the season, there was hope that Irvin could develop into a midline rotation starting pitcher.
Now, in a large sample size for Irvin, he's made 80 starts at the Major League level and has a 4.61 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. This is most likely the pitcher that Irvin ends up being throughout his career. As for Mitchell Parker, he fell off the face of a cliff after April, where he posted a 3.19 ERA. Parker's ERA has risen to 5.35 in 117.2 innings pitched. His ERA in the first inning is 6.95, and some of these statistics are just unacceptable for a Major League starting pitcher.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara has been underwhelming in his three appearances thus far, pitching to an 8.38 ERA in 9.2 innings of work. It seems the plan for Ogasawara moving forward is to pitch out of the bullpen, as Brad Lord took the slot in the rotation for the injured Trevor Williams a few weeks ago and has performed well. The current starting rotation is MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker, and Brad Lord.
The only "option" to slot in the fifth spot in the rotation would be Cade Cavalli, but he currently has an ERA of 6.09 through 15 starts at AAA Rochester. The options are so limited for the Nats in the starting pitching category. As for Cavalli, we're nearing the point in his career where it's time to see if he has what it takes. Give Cavalli the ball in D.C. and see what happens. Could it be any worse than what Ogasawara can provide as a starting pitcher? Cavalli is 26 years old now, which is hard to believe, and the Nats need to find out what they have in the former first-round pick.
While it sounds ugly, the Nats should call up Cade Cavalli to take the final spot in the starting rotation. The lack of organizational pitching depth is concerning and needs to be addressed this offseason. Washington had to sell at the deadline, but it's opened up a glaring hole in the organization at the starting pitcher position. The most recent series against the Brewers was a prime example; each of the three games was over in the third inning due to bad starting pitching. While Brad Lord had a solid outing on Sunday, the Nats will need more from him to win games. Let us know what you think in the comments about the Nats' lack of starting pitching depth and how it should be addressed this offseason!