These last two wins have been key in stabilizing the Nats season, which looked to be going off the rails. Between selling at the deadline and that miserable road trip, the playoffs are highly unlikely, but the Nats have righted the ship. Surprisingly, their pitching staff has been a big reason for that.
The back end of the bullpen has been particularly impressive lately. We talked about that yesterday, but they looked good again today. Outside of the home run Max Kranick allowed, the bullpen was pretty
close to perfect. It really seems like Blake Butera has a steady back of the pen for the first time all year.
A big reason for that is new addition Yovanny Cruz, who has electric stuff. Blake Butera couldn’t believe some of the pitches he threw, saying Cruz threw some “ridiculous” sliders. They were 93 MPH with vicious movement. He also said that Cruz will continue to get more comfortable with his splitter as well.
Last night, the splitter was very helpful for him. Cruz got back to back whiffs on that pitch to strike out Elly De La Cruz to get out of a jam. The strikes are not always there for Cruz, but the stuff is easy to see. Having your worst pitch be a 100 MPH fastball is pretty nuts.
It is not just Cruz who is helping out this pitching staff though. In the bullpen, guys like Beeter, Ribalta and Tom Cosgrove have also done a nice job. They are also getting some quality outings from Brad Lord and Trevor Williams. A massive weakness has now become much less of a problem. It is too soon to call it a strength, but if the Nats have a 3 or 4 run lead, I am not as worried anymore.
Cade Cavalli and Andrew Alvarez also delivered very solid starts these last two nights. Alvarez has been particularly impressive in his last two outings. For most of the season, he has had a habit of nibbling, but lately he has been attacking the zone with intent.
This has made his manager Blake Butera very happy. In the post game interview, both he and Alvarez mentioned how getting too deep into counts has been a problem in the past. Butera said that Alvarez continues to gain more belief in how good his stuff is. He added that “A lot of it when you get to the big leagues is believing you can pitch here and have success here”.
It seems like Alvarez is starting to gain that belief and realize that he does not have to nibble to get outs. He has some really good breaking stuff, which he showed off tonight. If Alvarez can continue to get deeper into games, his stock will really rise.
At the moment, the pitching staff seems to be in a good spot, outside of a couple guys. However, it seems like help should be on the way soon. Spencer Nusbaum put out an article where he said that prospects Luis Perales and Jackson Kent are likely to join the club sometime soon.
Those two would make the staff even more exciting. Kent projects to be a sturdy and dependable number 4 starter with a very good changeup. His stuff is not electric, but he has good command and deception while having average raw stuff.
Meanwhile, Perales is pretty much the opposite. He has a fastball that routinely hits triple digits, a nasty cutter and a splitter that falls off the table. However, his command and execution is a work in progress, though it has been improving lately.
Watching this pitching staff has been a chore for most of the season, but it is looking more exciting as we enter the stretch run. As we enter 2027, the pitching staff is in a much better place than it was entering 2026. That is without even mentioning the return of the Nats top 2 pitching prospects in Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana.
This time next year, we could be talking about the pitching staff as a borderline strength. A lot of it comes down to the work that Paul Toboni has done. It has taken longer and there have been plenty of misses, but it feels like we are finally finding a formula here.
There is plenty of time for things to go sideways and there are still some real weak links. However, the arrow is finally pointing up on the pitching side. Hopefully that continues down the stretch and the Nats can finish this season on a high note.
