Paul Toboni Preaches Patience When It Comes to Improving Nationals' MLB Staff

Washington Nationals fans shouldn't expect a high-end pitching staff any time soon.

Washington Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Pitching has been a focus when it comes to the Washington Nationals for years.

It's no secret that possessing an elite staff bodes well for having success on the field. When the Nationals won the World Series in 2019, they had a team ERA of 4.27 during the regular season, which was 12th in the majors. Since then, the best they've finished was 23rd in ERA, and unsurprisingly, that has coincided with them being one of the worst teams in baseball since their lone championship.

With that in mind, president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is trying to transform things throughout the organization when it comes to pitching. But it's clear this won't be a quick fix, and the new executive is preaching patience when it comes to seeing results in the bigs.

Having Elite MLB Staff Could Take Some Time for Nationals

Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

While owner Mark Lerner has previously stated that he would spend money when it's time for that to take place, his track record inspires little confidence that is going to happen. So seeing Washington spend money to bring in an established ace or two likely won't occur.

Because of that, development is going to be key for this organization when it comes to fielding a high-end pitching staff. And Toboni is asking Nationals fans to continue being patient as they transform things in their pipeline.

"I'm not sure it's going to play out here in a month, a year, even 18 months," he stated, per Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic (subscription required). "But I am confident that, over the medium and long term, it's going to start to show up. And when it shows up, it's not going to be the end of it for us. We're just going to continue to try and improve and drive those numbers over the course of time."

The good news is that there are plenty of reasons to be confident that Washington will be able to have a homegrown top-of-the-line pitching staff at some point. Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana -- two top 100 prospects -- have dominated in the minors before suffering their separate injuries. Six other arms are ranked in the top 15 of the Nationals' farm system, and two of their Triple-A pitchers -- Andrew Alvarez and Andry Lara -- were named International League Pitcher of the Week this season.

It has to be remembered that this franchise is still in a rebuilding phase, so results aren't going to come immediately. But, while it might take some time before Washington fields a premium pitching staff, there is a plenty of hope that can have one of the premier units in the sport in the future.