Washington Nationals Young Reliever Showcasing Future Closer Stuff in Spring
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The Washington Nationals had several areas on their roster that needed an upgrade heading into the offseason.
For the most part, despite not spending a ton of money, the front office got the job done, reinforcing different areas with veteran additions on short-term deals.
One of the groups that will feature a lot of new faces in 2025 is the bullpen.
Evan Reifert is a high-upside option that was selected in the Rule 5 Draft away from the Tampa Bay Rays. He has the stuff to stick in the Major Leagues if he can hone his control and cut down on the walks, but hasn’t pitched above Double-A.
Jorge Lopez was the first veteran addition, agreeing to a one-year deal in free agency. The team also signed Lucas Sims to bolster the unit recently and brought back closer Kyle Finnegan after non-tendering him earlier in the winter.
Those three are going to factor into the late-game mix for manager Davey Martinez given their experience compared to the other relievers he has to choose from.
But, they are all right-handed pitchers.
At some point, he is going to need a lefty to emerge that can handle high-leverage situations late in games.
Enter Jose A. Ferrer, who looks poised to break out in 2025 and has the stuff to eventually become a star.
He showed excellent development in his second season in the MLB in 2024. Across the board, there were improvements as he cut his ERA down from 5.03 as a rookie to 3.38 and he slashed his BB/9 in half.
His ERA+ went from 85 to 120 as well.
Based on his performance thus far in spring training, he looks poised to take another step forward in his development.
Ferrer has been excellent in Grapefruit League games, making four appearances and pitching 4.0 shutout innings. He has allowed only two hits and struck out five.
Impressively, he has not issued a single walk, as he has worked tirelessly to hone in his control and it is working.
His stuff has been baffling hitters all spring, as all three of Ferrer’s pitches were clicking in his most recent outing.
Against the Miami Marlins on Mar. 5, he has one of the most dominant outings, stuff-wise, of anyone this spring.
Ferrer had a proStuff+ score of 113 with a 57.1% whiff rate.
Oh you know, just another random reliever throwing gas with some of the nastiest stuff you'll see all day pic.twitter.com/edsmJipI8X
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 5, 2025
His changeup was quite literally unhittable, registering a 100.0% whiff rate. His slider and sinker were both generating swings and misses as well.
The slider was his nastiest pitch of the outing with a proStuff+ score of 127.
That certainly is the profile of a future star closer, especially if his improved strikeout rate is here to stay.
