Washington Nationals Vet Cementing Rotation Spot With Elite Spring Numbers
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The Washington Nationals addressed a number of weaknesses on their roster during the offseason, but didn’t make any splashes.
Several veterans were added to the mix, mostly on one-year deals. The only player who received a multi-year deal in free agency was Trevor Williams, whom the team re-signed to a two-year deal.
He was brought back to add some experience to a starting rotation that MacKenzie Gore, with 372.2 innings under his belt, being the most experienced pitcher in the mix.
However, Williams wasn’t the only addition the team made this offseason.
They also signed veteran Mike Soroka to a one-year, $9 million deal, making him the highest paid active pitcher on the roster.
Like Williams, Soroka was told by the team that he would be a starter out of the gate. Competition is fierce for one of the five spots, as the team has loaded up on rotation depth.
Gore is locked into a spot along with Jake Irvin. Shinnosuke Ogasawara was also signed this offseason and will be competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster along with the other two veterans, DJ Herz, Mitchell Parker and Cade Cavalli.
Given how much money the team have to Soroka, it would be surprising if he wasn’t in the rotation to begin the season.
However, he is doing his best to ensure that it isn’t only his price tag and veteran status that lands him a spot, as he was stellar in his spring training debut against the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend.
Soroka fired three scoreless innings, getting his Nationals tenure off to the perfect start. He wasn’t facing a team of minor leaguers either, as the 8.3 Opponent Quality rating shared by Baseball-Reference is a solid score; an 8 is Triple-A and a 10 is MLB.
He faced the minimum through his three innings of work, issuing one walk and striking out three.
Overall, his proStuff+ score of 111 was excellent, as he produced an above-average whiff rate of 28.6% and perfect barrel rate of 0.0%, as no Cardinals hitter was able to square up a pitch.
Soroka showcased an elite four-seam fastball and changeup combination that had hitters baffled throughout the inning. 51.3% of his pitches were four-seamers, averaging 94.9 mph, producing an elite 123 proStuff+ score.
His changeup, which he threw 10.3% of the time, he had a 121 proStuff+ score with a perfect 100.0% whiff rate.
White Sox fans might want to ignore this one... pic.twitter.com/fkmt4T7VWG
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 1, 2025
Those two pitches alone will make Soroka an effective starting pitcher, as he has shown in the past that he can excel as a member of the rotation.
In 2019, he finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year race and sixth in the Cy Young Award voting.
Unfortunately, he has not been able to stay healthy consistently since that point. But if his spring training debut is a sign of things to come, he is regaining the form he showed earlier in his career and will be a huge piece of the Washington pitching plans in 2025.
