Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera shares a dose of optimism on the pitching staff ahead of the start of spring training
Pitchers and catchers have already kicked off workouts this week with the full team set to officially start together on Monday, but first year manager Blake Butera admitted "it feels like our entire team is here" with a long list of play already in West Palm Beach through the week.
"I think there's just a lot of excitement. And these guys are pretty hungry and excited to get rolling," Butera said on 106.7 on Friday.
Maybe the biggest takeaway from the interview was the starting pitching staff, which saw an obvious boost to the rotation with veteran Miles Mikolas officially in the fold, giving the Nationals a much needed boost following the MacKenzie Gore trade last month. While the bigger question may still remain who the team's Opening Day starter will be, Butera noted that pitcher Josiah Gray is "fully healthy and ready to roll" while noting Gray, along with the rest of the pitchers, are on a pitch count through spring training.
"Always great to see him back on the mound too. I know he's battled some tough roads the last couple of years and he seems to be in really good spirits right now," Butera said. "And he threw a side yesterday and feels really good and is all smiles right now. He's back out there on the mound competing."
Gray has been sidelined for nearly two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery back in July 2024, making three short rehab appearance in the minor league late last season with no setbacks. "He was pretty darn close to being fully built up at the end of last year, and then you had the full offseason to get into good shape," Toboni said earlier in the week.
Of course, Cade Cavalli emerges as the most likely candidate to take over as the Opening Day starter with the next month giving Butera and the coaching staff a chance to finalize that decision.
"I think just what he looks like physically as he's reported to camp, I think he's in the best shape he's ever been in. He’s a monster right now. And just the presence he has on the mound, he exudes a ton of confidence and everything you want in a starting pitcher. So really happy with the spot Cade’s in," Butera added.
Whether it will be enough to elevate what is expected to be among the worst pitching staffs in baseball is the bigger question, but so is veteran leadership along the roster. Mikolas adds that to the pitching staff, but with multiple young stars under 25 across the roster James Wood, Dylan Crews, CJ Abrams and Harry Ford among others, Butera is also looking for some of that experience to blossom into leadership in 2026.
"You bring up the CJ Abrams has been an All Star. James Woods [has] been an All Star. We have some arms in the mound that, have been in the rotation for a couple of years now. And, yeah, they're still 23, 24 and 25 years old, but they do have that experience, which they can kind of lean on," Butera added.