One pitcher down, another pitcher is back on the Washington Nationals 40 man roster as the front office navigates the pitching staff challenges
The Washington Nationals pulled the trigger on another pitching move ahead of the start of Monday's four game series against the Atlanta Braves.
Working to get through a stretch of 17 games in as many days, the front office announced that right handed pitcher Julian Fernandez has been recalled from Triple A Rochester while left handed pitcher Andrew Alvarez was sent back down to the minors on Sunday evening.
This marked the second stint in the big leagues for Fernandez as he appeared in three games for Washington last season after being claimed off the waiver wire from the Los Angeles Dodgers back on Aug. 17. Between stints with the Nationals and Dodgers, opponents went 3-for-18 (.167) against him, including 1-for-10 (.100) with the Nationals, in four Major League outings.
In nine appearances in 2026 in the minors, Fernandez has notched a 4.7 ERA and 1.43 WHIP while tossing eight strikeouts across 7.2 innings while also notching one save.
Fernandez then stepped in to close out the game for the Nationals with Washington already trailing, 7-4 on Monday night yet struggled after allowing five consecutive batters to reach base, allowing Atlanta to tally another two insurance runs to cement another loss at home.
The surprise for Washington was not that Fernandez was called up, but being called up to take the spot once held by Andrew Alvarez, who was demoted following Sunday's series finale win.
His lone appearance after being called up came against the Giants when Alvarez posted 4.1 scoreless innings while tossing five strikeouts in 62 pitches, an encouraging showing after fans have watched a middling bullpen try to figure out how to iron out the kinks. Alvarez spoke about his success in his lone appearance in a postgame interview with new sideline reporter Alexa Datt, yet it proved to mark just a glimpse of what is hoped to come for the Nationals bullpen in time.
It marked the latest pitching move after Paxton Schultz was demoted back down to Triple A in exchange for Alvarez being called up as Manager Blake Butera navigates through a tightened bullpen due to injury. Both Ken Waldichuk and Cole Henry went down with Tommy John surgery all but certain for Waldichuk, a deflating reality for one of the more experienced arms available ahead of the 2026 regular season.
Meanwhile, the Nationals will look to get back in the win column with a chance to pick up just the third win at home at Nationals Park with Foster Griffin set to take the mound for game two this evening, with first pitch set for 6:45 PM ET.