For those who have forgotten, Nick Nastrini was once a promising pitching prospect in the Dodgers system who was part of the trade to the Chicago White Sox in 2023 for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly.
If you have
forgotten what Nastrini brought to the table in 2023, let us return to the scouting report from the beginning of that season:
Nastrini worked with a 92-94 mph fastball in college but has operated at 94-96 and reached 98 with outstanding carry and pitch characteristics as a pro. His mid-80s slider can be unhittable and features high spin rates, as does his 78-82 mph curveball, which also shows flashes of becoming a plus pitch but doesn’t land in the zone as consistently. He’s showing increased feel for a mid-80s changeup that bottoms out at the plate and utilized it more often in 2022.
There’s no doubt that Nastrini’s stuff gives him the upside of a frontline starter, but the question is will he throw enough strikes to reach his ceiling. He does have a repeatable delivery, and some minor adjustments to his tempo and catcher targeting helped him reduce his walk rate from 7.4 per nine innings at UCLA to 4.2 in his first full pro season. He’ll be an asset in the rotation if he can develop average control and decent command, and still could be an impact reliever if he doesn’t.
[emphasis added.]
The White Sox thought they were getting a young arm to develop into a rotation piece, and the Dodgers thought they were getting coverage for the rotation. This trade worked in theory, but in application, left plenty to be desired.
“Lance Lynn in the Division Series” is not quite the level of reference as “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra,” but enough ink has been spilled on the Dodgers’ disastrous 2023 NLDS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nastrini entered the White Sox rotation in 2024, and he was an outright disaster. While mimicking the Bobby Miller arc, in nine games (including eight starts), he earned a 0-7 record with a 7.07 ERA, a 1.907 WHIP, and 36 walks to 26 strikeouts.
Needless to say, in 2025, Nastrini started the year in Triple-A Charlotte.
Sadly, it was more of the same in 2025. Nastrini appeared in 20 games with six starts while in the Chicago organization. He did have a six-inning scoreless start on April 22.
In 44 1/3 IP of work, he earned a 1-1 record with a 7.51 ERA, a 1.692 WHIP, and 48 strikeouts to 39 walks. He also had six wild pitches and hit seven batters.
On July 1st, the White Sox had seen enough and put Nastrini on waivers. That same day, the Miami Marlins took a flier on Nastrini and had him make a single start for Triple-A Jacksonville on July 8th. He gave up two runs over two innings, while walking four and hitting three batters.
On July 9th, the Marlins designated Nastrini for assignment. On July 12th, the Dodgers reacquired Nastrini in place of Noah Davis.
On July 18th, the Dodgers cleared Nastrini through waivers off the 40-man roster by outrighting him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Nastrini spent a couple of weeks at the Arizona Complex before joining the Comets for the rest of the 2025 campaign to try to recapture that old Dodger magic.
It did not work. Nastrini made three appearances for the Comets in August and September.
On August 7, he made his first appearance in the Dodgers organization in over two years. His debut for Oklahoma City against the El Paso Chihuahuas was as ignominious as any pitching appearance I have ever seen in my almost 40 years of baseball fandom and four years of professional baseball writing.
He entered in the top of the third inning with one batter already out, replacing Zach Penrod. The following is what happened next, which had to be seen multiple times to be believed. Nastrini was posting effective speeds not seen since college, and to say he was wild was an understatement.
- Walk
- Walk (stolen base during at bat, runners now at second and third)
- Walk (wild pitch during at bat, bases now loaded)
- Walk (wild pitch during at bat, run scores, bases again loaded)
- Nastrini was removed; Ryan Sublette is now pitching, you can guess what happened next…
For those keeping score, that outing results in an infinite ERA. Nastrini was not seen again until mid-September, when he was activated from an unspecified injury.
He made two appearances against Tacoma during the final regular-season series of the year. On September 17, he faced and retired a single batter. On September 21, he pitched 2/3rds of an inning, allowing two runs and walking three.
While Nastrini has returned to the Dodgers’ organization, he is off the 40-man roster and will have to improve exponentially even to be considered for another shot at the Majors in 2026.
2025 particulars
Age: 25
Stats: (Oklahoma City) 3 G, 0-2, 1 IP, 7 BB, 54.00 ERA, 7.00 WHIP
Salary: Unknown
Game of the year
Overall, April 22nd with Charlotte was his best outing of the year. If limited to outings in the Dodgers organization, September 17th’s clean one-batter outing is the only choice.
Roster status
Nastrini still has rookie status and is in the Dodgers’ organization, but is currently off the 40-man roster.
