At last, after nearly two and a half years of recovery and setbacks, Josiah Gray is back in the big leagues.
The Nationals activated Gray off the 60 Day IL earlier today, bringing an end to a long and winding recovery process for him. Gray last pitched in a Major League game on April 4, 2024. At the time, he was the Nats’ Opening Day starter and coming off his first All-Star appearance in 2023.
Since then, almost everything that could slow down his return has happened.
Gray originally landed on the injured list in April 2024 with what the team called a right elbow and forearm flexor strain. He rested, began throwing again, and eventually made five Minor League rehab appearances that summer. However, his velocity dipped during the assignment, and the discomfort returned. Further testing revealed a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, leading to Tommy John surgery with an internal-brace procedure in July.
That wiped out the rest of 2024 and nearly all of 2025. Gray finally returned to game action late last season, making three short rehab appearances before the Minor League schedule ended. The results were encouraging, and he entered this spring looking like a realistic candidate to rejoin the Nats early in the year.
Then came another setback.
After making two Spring Training appearances, Gray suffered another strain in the flexor area of his right arm. The Nationals shut him down, placed him on the 60-day injured list, and restarted a process he had already spent close to two years working through. He did not begin his latest rehab assignment until August.
That second injury is the biggest reason this recovery took so long. Tommy John surgery already requires a long and careful buildup, but Gray’s flexor strain forced him to stop that buildup and begin it again. For a pitcher who had already experienced one failed comeback attempt in 2024, there was no reason to rush the next one.
Gray worked his way through all four full-season levels of the Nationals’ system during his latest assignment. He finished with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP across 12 innings, allowing only four earned runs in 11 appearances. The Nats used him exclusively as a reliever, gradually building him up through short, controlled outings rather than trying to stretch him back into a traditional starter’s workload.
That should give fans a good idea of what to expect over the final weeks of the season.
Gray is unlikely to step directly into the rotation and throw five or six innings. He has not thrown more than two innings in a competitive game this year, and 12 total rehab innings are nowhere near enough to prepare him for a normal starter’s workload. The most realistic role is out of the bullpen, where the Nats can use him for an inning at a time, give him plenty of rest, and continue monitoring how his arm responds.
The results also should not be the main focus right away. Gray may not have his best command, and his velocity might fluctuate after such a long absence. When he briefly returned during Spring Training, his fastball averaged 92.5 mph and topped out at 94, and he relied heavily on his slider, curveball, and sweeper, rather than his heater.
That approach makes sense. Gray’s fastball has always been the pitch that gets him into trouble. His best season came in 2023, when he leaned more heavily on his breaking pitches and posted a 3.91 ERA across 159 innings. He still walked too many batters and occasionally struggled to work deep into games, but his expanded arsenal helped him limit hard contact and earn an All-Star selection.
The version of Gray that returns now could lean into that identity even more. If his breaking pitches are sharp and he can throw enough strikes, he still has the tools to get Major League hitters out. But after multiple elbow and forearm injuries, it is fair to wonder whether his long-term future remains in the rotation or eventually shifts to the bullpen.
For now, the most important thing is that Gray is healthy enough to pitch in the Major Leagues again. Anything the Nationals get from him down the stretch is a bonus. If he looks anything like the pitcher who represented Washington in the 2023 All-Star Game, that would make his return even more encouraging. But after 896 days away from a Major League mound, simply seeing Josiah Gray pitch for the Nationals again is already a meaningful step.
