Future of Previous Nationals First-Round Pick Looks Murky After Poor 2025 Season

The future is unclear for this previous Washington Nationals first-round pick.

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One of the things that Paul Toboni and his new front office will have to assess when it comes to this Washington Nationals roster is who they believe is expendable.

While there are some exciting building blocks in place, it's no secret that the overall talent level is lacking when it comes to their ability to compete with the other teams in their division, let alone the National League and all of Major League Baseball.

Because of that, some major changes could be coming to the Nationals. Assessments will be made on everyone in the organization, and former star prospects and high-end talents who haven't panned out could be on the chopping block.

Jackson Rutledge Had Disappointing 2025 Season

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Someone who fits into that category is 2019 first-round pick Jackson Rutledge, the 27-year-old right-handed pitcher who was taken 17th overall with the belief that he could be a key part of Washington's rotation in the future. But unfortunately for everyone, things just have not panned out the way anyone expected.

The Nationals converted him into a reliever ahead of this past season after he had been inconsistent as a starter throughout his major league and minor league career. At the beginning of the year, it looked like that was going to pay off when he had a 2.61 ERA across seven outings in April where he struck out 14 batters in 10 1/3 innings pitched. But that was the best it got.

Rutledge finished the season with a 5.77 ERA and ERA+ that was 29 points below the league average of 100. He also was in the first percentile when it came to hard hit rate, which was a major reason why he gave up 16 home runs. He also only generated a 25.3% whiff rate, which resulted in his strikeout rate being in the 28th percentile at 19.6%.

Jackson Rutledge's Future With Nationals Is Unclear

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The issue is that it's not clear if things are going to get better for Rutledge in 2026. And with a new regime now in place, his future is murky since he is out of options and would need to be passed through waivers first if he needs to spend more time in the minors.

"... the Nationals will need to decide if they're willing to continue carrying him on their big league roster, knowing he can't be sent down any longer without first passing through waivers," wrote Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

A big spring training will be the first step in making the roster in 2026. But after that, he has to perform much better than he did this past season. Or else there's a chance he is looking for a new team next year.