The pitching for the Washington Nationals was mostly disastrous in 2025, but Brad Lord was a bright spot. There is a pitcher in the Nats system with a lot of similarities to Lord and could make the same
kind of impact in 2026. That guy is Riley Cornelio, who had a breakout year in the minors in 2025.
After being drafted in the 7th round out of TCU in 2022, Riley Cornelio struggled in his first couple years of pro ball. He had two seasons in A ball where his ERA was over 4.50 both seasons. However, a switch flipped for Cornelio in 2025 and he looked like a different pitcher.
He went all the way from High-A to Triple-A and was highly impressive. Cornelio posted a 3.28 ERA across 134.1 innings, winning Nationals Minor League pitcher of the year in the process. He was so good that Paul Toboni decided to add him to the 40-man roster rather than risk exposing him to the Rule 5 draft. By adding him to the 40-man, Paul Toboni is indicating that Cornelio will play a role in the big leagues at some point in 2026.
This is very similar to what Brad Lord did in the past. Both were older, unheralded prospects who had ordinary starts to their pro careers. Then both took a leap and became some of the most productive arms in the Nats Minor League system. It is easy to envision Cornelio filling a similar swingman role as Lord did last season.
However, Cornelio’s mix makes me think he could be more of a reliever. His best pitch by far is his slider, which fangraphs gave a 70 grade to. It has sharp, late break, and gets a ton of swings and misses. In Triple-A, Cornelio’s slider had a 50% whiff rate. He only threw it 23% of the time, but in a bullpen role, he can let it rip 40 to 50% of the time.
Another reason the bullpen could be a better home for Cornelio is that his velocity falls as he gets deeper into starts. He can start games sitting in the 96 to 97 MPH range, but it ticks down to 93-94 as the game goes on. Cornelio needs that velocity because his fastball shape is not anything special. He does not get much swing and miss on his 4-seamer or sinker.
Despite not having a great fastball, he was throwing it over 50% of the time in AAA. That is one easy change that Paul Toboni can make to his repertoire. It would even be tempting to make the slider his primary pitch because of how good it is. Cornelio also has a decent changeup.
I am pretty confident that we will see Cornelio in the MLB at some point in 2026. He will turn 26 in June, so there is not much of a reason to waste bullets in the minors if he is ready. Cornelio may not be favored to make the team out of camp, but it is something to keep an eye on.
There are a few paths he could take. He has been very durable in recent years, so he could continue on his path as a potential 5 starter. Cornelio could also be a long reliever who can go in the rotation when injuries hit, much like Brad Lord. However, I also like the idea of Cornelio being a slider heavy middle to high leverage reliever. We know the slider is big time and if he can sit at 96-97 in short bursts, the fastball will play too.
Every year there are arms that seemingly come out of nowhere. However, these guys always start somewhere. Riley Cornelio is one of those guys and I think 2026 can be a breakthrough campaign for the former 7th round pick.
