Nationals Desperately Need to Sign this Star Free Agent Relief Pitcher

The Washington Nationals have been held back by their bullpen early on this season. Fortunately, a solution is still available on the free agent market.

Aug 21, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher David Robertson (37) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals have gotten surprisingly strong performances from their starting rotation in the early going of the 2025 regular season.

The pitching as a whole was figured to be the team's weak point, as analysts expected that a powerful offense buoyed by exciting young talents and a couple powerful veterans would keep the Nationals competitive.

Instead, it is the bullpen that has been Washington's undoing. From young ace MacKenzie Gore to veteran Trevor Williams, the Nationals have mostly gotten quality from a group of starters that doesn't strike much fear into opponents on paper.

To that end, the Nationals are 12th in MLB in starter ERA at a 3.34 mark, but they are 28th in the league in reliever ERA at 7.78.

In the offseason, Washington dealt one of its better relievers in Robert Garcia to the Texas Rangers to address a huge need in the form of first baseman and left-handed power bat Nathaniel Lowe.

With Garcia in the fold, the Rangers opted not to bring back one of their top relievers from 2024, and David Robertson is still available on the free agent market.

Robertson is 39 years of age, so it's entirely possible that he would only be interested in signing with a contending team. But if that's not the case, the Nationals would be a perfect fit.

It would present him with an opportunity to serve as a mentor to younger pitchers and step in to a high-leverage role right away with no questions asked.

Despite his age, Robertson still has all the tools to be effective, and he proved that and more with his performance in Arlington in 2024.

In 68 appearances with the Rangers, he held up despite a big workload and posted a 3.00 ERA while striking out 99 batters over 72 innings for a phenomenal strikeouts per nine innings rate of 12.4.

The Nats could use some swing-and-miss ability like that in their own bullpen, as the team's current best late-innings option, Kyle Finnegan, usually hovers around a strikeout per inning.

Finnegan is a great option for manager Dave Martinez, but Martinez could use another choice and Finnegan could use some support in eating up some of the high-stress workload that this young lineup and rotation hope to provide the bullpen with more of.

It's puzzling that no team has acted more quickly to bring Robertson into the fold, and Washington would be wise to deliver a major upgrade to their stable of relief options by checking in with one of the best veterans in the sport.