High-Strikeout Pitcher Returns to Phillies After Short Time With Nationals

A couple of days after the Phillies sent their pick from December's Rule 5 draft back to the Miami Marlins, they received a player they lost the same morning.

Right-handed pitcher Griff McGarry was returned to the Phils on Tuesday from the Washington Nationals, who took a four-month chance on him after the progress he showed last season at Double-A.

McGarry, 26, had been an interesting Phillies pitching prospect for years, initially as a starter, then as a reliever, then as a starter again. He experienced minor-league success up until 2023, when a career-long problem with walks finally caught up to him as he crept closer to the majors.

Winding path

McGarry was torn apart at Triple-A in 2023, allowing 20 runs in just 4⅓ innings with 14 walks. It was obviously time to go back to the drawing board.

The 2024 season wasn't much better for McGarry. He was converted to relief but still walked 36 batters in 30⅔ innings. It doesn't matter how hard you throw or how many batters you can strike out if you're walking half the hitters you face.

After a full season of relief, the Phillies converted McGarry back to a starter in 2025 and things finally clicked, to an extent. He averaged only four innings in his 21 starts but posted a 3.44 ERA across three levels (mostly Double-A) with 124 strikeouts in 83⅔ innings. The walks were still an issue at 5.3 per nine innings, but to put his previous control problems in perspective, it was half his rate from 2024.

Left unprotected

The Phillies did not add McGarry to their 40-man roster in December when they did so with right-handers Andrew Painter and Alex McFarlane and corner outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. This left McGarry exposed to the Rule 5 draft, where the Nationals selected him third overall.

The Phillies held the 12th pick in the Rule 5 draft and selected right-handed reliever Zach McCambley from the Marlins. He was unable to win an Opening Day roster spot and was returned to the Fish for $50,000. The stipulation with Rule 5 picks is that they must spend the entire season on their new team's active roster or be placed on outright waivers, then offered back to the previous team if they clear. Only if the previous team declines can the player remain in his new organization.

McGarry appeared in six games this spring with the Nats, allowing two runs and walking five over 5⅔ innings with six K's. He was designated for assignment on Sunday as Washington made 40-man roster space for infielder Jorbit Vivas, acquired from the Yankees.

Where's he headed?

McGarry figures to pitch at Triple-A again this season with Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs' rotation will include 24-year-old pitching prospect Jean Cabrera, depth right-hander Alan Rangel and veteran righty Bryse Wilson. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler will also pitch there on Sunday, in the third game of the Triple-A season, in his first rehab start.

Once upon a time, Painter, Mick Abel and McGarry looked like a potential pitching core of the future for the Phillies. They've all taken different paths.

Painter was close to making his MLB debut in 2023 before an elbow injury cost him two full seasons. His debut will finally come next Tuesday against the Nationals.

Abel turned a corner in 2025 after years of minor-league inconsistency, and whether that progress was real or just small sample size theatre, it enabled the Phillies to use him as the centerpiece of the trade for closer Jhoan Duran.

McGarry's journey has been less publicized, but he still has a chance to help the Phillies if he can ever find the plate more regularly.