Washington Nationals Return Intriguing Rule 5 Selection to Tampa Bay Rays

The Washington Nationals have made a roster move.

Feb 22, 2025; West Palm Beach, Florida, USA; Washington Nationals pitcher Evan Reifert (68) throws a pitch in the third inning against the Houston Astros at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches. | Reinhold Matay-Imagn Images

The Washington Nationals have made an interesting roster move on Tuesday afternoon.

According to an announcement from the team, right-handed pitcher and Rule 5 selection Evan Reifert has been returned to the Tampa Bay Rays, bringing the current total on the 40-man roster to 39 players.

Due to the rules for Rule 5 selections, the Nationals were going to be forced to return Reifert to the Rays if they took him off the active 40-man roster at any point this season, but clearly they had seen enough already to be able to make the decision now.

Reifert, a 25-year-old originally drafted by the Texas Rangers before electing to go to school and winding up undrafted in 2020, has struggled mightily with command thus far in the spring. Through just 6.1 innings pitched, the righty is responsible for a 15.63 ERA and a dreadful 3.000 WHIP along with even more concerningly 12 walks.

Last week, Dave Martinez spoke about his issues and clarified that while the team is a big fan of his potential, they cannot afford to throw someone out there who will have that many walks and baserunners.

"We love his stuff, we love his makeup but it's about him being consistent on throwing strikes. Can't come out of the bullpen and walk guys. You put yourself in a bad situation. And knowing that, if he's going to walk guys, I can't put him in with guys on base. It becomes a problem," the Nationals manager said via Andrew Golden of The Washington Post (subscription required).

It was easy to see why Washington was intrigued by Reifert with the hurler coming off an absolutely dominant campaign for Tampa Bay's Double-A affiliate in Montgomery. Over 35 relief appearances, Reifert had a 1.96 ERA in 2024 and was striking out batters at a ridiculous rate with 65 K's in just 41.1 innings along with a WHIP of 0.919.

Clearly however, it has not translated to camp and Reifert still has some more refining to do before he can eventually return to the big leagues.

Never having pitched in Triple-A, that is likely where Reifert is headed for the Rays to start the season and see if he can earn his way to some MLB innings in 2025.

Given the flashed potential Reifert has shown in the past, it's unfortunate it did not work out with the Nationals, but fans in Washington will likely follow his still young career closely to find out what could have been if things had gone differently.