Clayton Beeter Has Chance to Become the Bullpen Weapon Nationals Have Needed

The Washington Nationals could use this in their bullpen.

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The Washington Nationals acquired Clayton Beeter from the New York Yankees ahead of the trade deadline this year as part of the return for Amed Rosario.

That deal went under the radar compared to other moves that were made. Not only is Rosario now a part-time infielder due to being elite against left-handed pitching while he struggles against righties, but Beeter also hadn't done anything of note at the major league level.

However, there is a chance the Nationals found a diamond in the rough for themselves with that trade. And based on what Beeter did during his 24 outings this past season, he could become something they have been searching for in their bullpen unit.

Clayton Beeter Has Nasty Strikeout Stuff

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While the sample size was limited, what Beeter showcased when it came to his upside was exciting. Not only did he have a ridiculous strikeout rate of 31.7% with 32 K's in 21 2/3 innings pitched, but his whiff rate was 32.9%.

One of the reasons for that was laid out by Mark Zuckerman of MASN, who took a look under the hood at what Beeter showcased with Washington this past season. And much of the success Beeter had was due to his nasty slider, which finished with a ridiculous Stuff+ value of 126.

"He has an elite pitch that induces a ton of swings and misses. Opponents batted a measly .098 (5-for-51) off his slider, whiffing at an insane rate of 49.1 percent. That's right: They failed to make contact nearly 50 percent of the time they swung against that pitch. And it was equally effective against both right-handed and left-handed hitters, making it a true weapon," Zuckerman wrote.

Generating whiffs with one pitch nearly 50% of the time is hard enough to do at any level, let alone against big league hitters. That just shows how good the slider was for Beeter in 2025, which is something he'll have to build upon before next season.

Clayton Beeter Has to Reduce His Walks

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However, there is one major thing that is going to hold the 27-year-old back from being a high-end reliever for the Nationals, and that is the walk rate he put up.

While Beeter showcased what he could do when it came time for him to put a hitter away, he also made things hard on himself by issuing 14 free passes during those 21 2/3 innings of work, which was a 17.3% walk rate.

Improving his fastball will go a long way in fixing that. While his slider was dominant, he could not generate whiffs with his fastball (15.3%) and only rung up batters 8.3% of the time with that pitch, which makes some sense given the Stuff+ value given to his heater was a 90.

Getting just marginally better with the four-seamer will help his slider becomes even more dominant. And if that happens, Beeter could be a strikeout weapon for the Nationals, which is something they have needed for a long time.