The Washington Nationals might be on one of their final chances to save their 2026 season. They are headed on the road again to face the Texas Rangers in Arlington this week, and will need to do everything in their power to win the series at a minimum, but hopefully sweep the next 3 games starting tonight.
While the club is in the middle of undergoing a lot of changes with regard to some of their player personnel, having said goodbye to names like Curtis Mead, Foster Griffin, Luis Garcia Jr., Zack Littell, and Miles Mikolas, among others, they are clearly looking towards the future. With September right around the corner, are the Nationals tipping their hand about what they might do with their next call-ups?
Luis Perales working out of bullpen as September call-up rumors swirl
As has been a highly discussed topic throughout the 2026 season, and perhaps the one trade Paul Toboni might have initially wished for a do-over was the 1-for-1 prospect swap of lefty Jake Bennett to the Boston Red Sox for righty Luis Perales. After Bennett was called up and was outstanding to begin his MLB career, he has tailed off quite a bit, but still has pretty solid underlying numbers.
Perales, the 23-year-old righty and the #12 prospect in the organization, has not been bad by any means this year after spending the entire year with AAA Rochester, as he has pitched to a 3.80 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in 23 games, firmly positioning himself to be part of the Nationals' future. However, his latest body of work is beginning to have fans ask more questions about a potential role he might occupy once he reaches the majors.
His latest appearance over the weekend had Perales go from the scheduled starter on Sunday to working a shorter relief appearance on Saturday in which he was able to display some of his best stuff. Most notably, he showcased a 90% whiff rate on his splitter, a pitch he must be able to throw effectively in order to maximize his potential.
With the Nationals likely sticking with their 5-man rotation of Cade Cavalli, Jackson Kent, Jake Irvin, Andrew Alvarez, and Brad Lord, who they are seemingly looking to build back up as a starter, it seems like the easiest path for Perales to get a look in September would be as a reliever. Perales has always carried some reliever risk due to him having elite stuff but still needing to work on his control, but hopefully this is not a permanent decision yet.
While his long-term goal from the organization would likely be for him to stick in the starting rotation, him being able to showcase some of his stuff out of the bullpen beginning in a couple weeks would allow the organization to properly determine the best role for him moving into 2027.
Do you think Luis Perales will earn a September call-up in a couple weeks? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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