Nationals Announce Brutal Injury News Regarding Josiah Gray
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The Washington Nationals gave a brutal injury update regarding Josiah Gray on Monday.
After the organization decided he was going to start his 2026 season with Triple-A Rochester in hopes that he'd some improvements to his game coming off his long layoff due to Tommy John surgery, the Nationals announced that Gray was moved to the 60-day injured list with a right flexor strain in his forearm.
It goes without saying that this is a disappointing development. Gray, who was a headliner in the return package when Washington shipped both Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the 2021 trade deadline, was reportedly fully healthy entering this spring.
He was an All-Star in 2023, but following that season, he has only pitched two major league games for the Nationals after undergoing Tommy John surgery in mid-July of 2024. He missed all of 2025 and is now slated to miss at least the next two months with this new injury.
Future for Josiah Gray Looks Murky
Now 28 years old, the future for the right-hander in Washington looks murky. This was supposed to be a big season for the past Opening Day starter. But after some struggles in spring training where he didn't quite meet some of the marks the organization expected out of him, pitching in Triple-A to start the year was supposed to set him up for success.
But now he'll be missing even more time. And without consistent reps on the mound, it's hard to keep him in the future plans, especially when there are other talented young players coming up the pipeline who look like they have more upside than Gray at this stage of his career.
The best performance Gray ever had in the MLB was during his 2023 All-Star campaign. During that year, he finished with a 3.91 ERA and an ERA+ of 109 across 30 starts. While those aren't true frontline ace numbers that many expected out of him when he was acquired back in 2021, it seemed like he could have a place in Washington's rotation for a long period of time.
Unfortunately, there are now major question marks regarding that sentiment after this latest injury. While new manager Blake Butera had glowing things to say about Gray this spring, the reality is he has to be on the mound if he's going to be part of this franchise going forward. And because this regime has no previous ties to the right-hander, it wouldn't be surprising to see them move off of him at some point in the near future.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai