With the bullpen a consistent weakness for the Washington Nationals to open the 2026 regular season, the front office demoted another reliever back to Triple A Rochester.
Off the heels of another deflating game out of the bullpen, the Washington Nationals made another roster move on Saturday night.
Reliever Paxton Schultz has been optioned back to Triple A Rochester, recalling Andre Alvarez in conjunction with the move.
While he did not appear in Saturday's loss, Schultz, 28, gave up a solo home run in Friday's loss to the San Francisco Giants and finished with one strikeout and one additional hit allowed across three innings. It marked his third consecutive game allowing at least one earned run, including a blown save opportunity in Thursday night's extra innings win against the Pittsburgh Pirates where he allowed a pair of earned runs in just 0.1 innings.
He opened the season on the injured list due to right elbow inflammation before being promoted from Triple A on April 7 with Andre Granillo sent back down to Rochester.
Schultz started the season well after posting consecutive outings with one strikeout and no runs allowed in one inning pitched in two appearances, yet he becomes the latest move as the Washington Nationals try to figure out whether there are any in-house options that can address a struggling bullpen to open the 2026 regular season.
This also becomes the latest roster move to address the pitching staff this week after the Nationals saw both Ken Waldichuk and Cole Henry go down in the four game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, leading Orlando Ribalta, Jackson Rutledge and Mitchell Parker all activated. Ribalta and Rutledge have since been sent back down to Rochester.
How the Nationals manage to upgrade the bullpen poses the first major question for president of baseball operations Paul Toboni with the obvious weakness consistently glaring through the offseason.
Entering Sunday, the Nationals bullpen owns the third worst ERA (5.81), tied with the Chicago White Sox for the most hits allowed (104) and with the Houston Astros for the most home runs allowed (22) while owning the second-highest WHIP (1.64) in MLB.
Schultz was initially claimed off waivers back on Jan. 9 from the Toronto Blue Jays as the Nationals turned to the waiver wire to bolster their Triple A roster ahead of the start of the Blake Butera era.
In 2025, Schultz appeared in 13 games where he posted 28 strikeouts and eight walks across 24.2 innings to post a 4.38 ERA and 1.42 WHIP.
Meanwhile, the Nationals will look to close out the series at home against the San Francisco Giants hoping to avoid a sweep with Miles Mikolas, another pitcher who has struggled to start the 2026 regular season, set to take the mound. First pitch is set for 1:35 PM.