Nationals' Mitchell Parker Needs Strong Start to Turn Around Disappointing Season

Washington Nationals pitcher Mitchell Parker has had a disappointing 2025 campaign, but he could use the last month of the season to build positive momentum heading into next year.

Jul 26, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Mitchell Parker (70) exits the field after retiring the Minnesota Twins in the first inning at Target Field. | Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

Pitching was a known issue for the Washington Nationals before the 2025 season, and based on what's occurred throughout the campaign, it will remain an area of need heading into the winter.

There was some hope that a passable starting rotation could come together behind an ascendant ace in MacKenzie Gore throughout spring training, but it was clear even at the time that a lot of things would have to go right for that to transpire. Instead, basically none of them have. The Nationals own a 5.24 ERA from their starters entering play on Friday, the worst in all of MLB outside of the historically bad Colorado Rockies.

Trevor Williams was poor before getting hurt. Jake Irvin has struggled. And a scorching hot start for Gore has given way to a rough stretch that has ballooned his ERA all the way up to 4.15. Another pitcher who has not made the most of his opportunity this season is Mitchell Parker, whose 6.01 ERA in 134.2 innings is the worst in MLB among all qualified pitchers.

Struggling Mitchell Parker Needs to Build Momentum for 2026

Brad Mills-Imagn Images

Parker is still just 25 years of age, so it's far too soon to give up on the career of the fifth-round pick from the 2020 MLB draft. But things have not been pretty for the left-hander this season, which makes it hard to believe he can be a staple of this rotation going forward.

Hopes were high for him entering this year because of the potential he showed as a rookie in 2024. Then, he made 29 starts that ended with a 4.29 ERA and a FIP of 3.85, suggesting that his results were somewhat worse than how he actually pitched. He struck out a respectable 7.9 batters per nine innings and he did a decent enough job of limiting walks.

None of that has carried over to this season. In 16.1 fewer innings, he's walked 10 more batters than last year, allowed 18 more earned runs and surrendered two more home runs. His strikeout rate has cratered and he's been considerably less effective all around.

It's especially brutal considering the fact that he began the season with 6.1 innings of shutout ball against the Philadelphia Phillies and had a 1.39 ERA after his first five starts. Then, a streak of seven starts in which he allowed at least three earned runs began, resulting in his ERA going up to 4.71 by June 1.

Things have continued to spiral from there, as he's gone 0-4 with a 12.00 ERA in five starts in August. But on Friday night, Parker has the chance to end the month on a high note and enter the last month of the season with a chance to build momentum for 2026.

He'll face a Tampa Bay Rays squad that is in the bottom 10 of the league in batting average, on-base percentage, strikeout rate and slugging percentage for the year against left-handed pitching. That comes after facing a run of teams -- including the Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers -- that are much better suited to attack his arsenal.

If Parker can deliver and get hot for the rest of the year, it could go a long way toward helping him inspire confidence in the organization to give him another shot in the rotation in 2026. The team badly needs quality starters if it hopes to help its impressive core of young hitters compete in a tough division, and it would be much better if a cost-controlled Parker could be part of that equation.