Washington Nationals Sign Veteran Starting Pitcher Zach Davies to Minor League Deal
The Washington Nationals have signed starting pitcher Zach Davies to a minor league deal, The Washington Post's Andrew Golden reported Saturday morning.
Davies spent the last two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who ultimately released him in September. He spent a good chunk of 2023 on the injured list with back and oblique issues, going 2-5 with a 7.00 ERA, 1.664 WHIP and -1.5 WAR in 18 starts.
The 31-year-old righty, who has earned an invitation to the Nationals' big league Spring Training camp, has nine seasons of MLB action under his belt.
Davies showed promise as a young starter with the Milwaukee Brewers from 2015 to 2019. Across 111 appearances – all of which were starts – Davies went 43-32 with a 3.91 ERA, 1.299 WHIP and 2.41 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The San Diego Padres traded for Davies ahead of 2020, and he went 7-4 with a 2.73 ERA, 1.067 WHIP and 3.32 strikeout-to-walk ratio that season.
The following offseason, the Padres shipped Davies to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for All-Star pitcher Yu Darvish. Davies posted a career-worst campaign in 2021, going 6-12 with a 5.78 ERA and 1.601 WHIP on the eve of his free agency.
Davies – on a one-year, $1.75 million deal – went 2-5 with a 4.09 ERA and 1.295 WHIP with the Diamondbacks in 2022. Arizona brought him back on a one-year, $5 million contract the following offseason, only for his production to fall back off in 2023.
The Nationals are currently projected to enter 2024 with a similar rotation they had throughout 2023 – Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Patrick Corbin and Trevor Williams. Considering Davies has served as a starting pitcher in all 200 of his career MLB outings, he may not make the 26-man roster if all of those incumbent arms are good to go.
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