A pair of young Washington Nationals pitchers took the mound for encouraging starts this week
After a convincing series back at home, the Washington Nationals followed it up with a dud after dropping game two against the Chicago Cubs to drop the series at home, extending an already bleak outlook on the postseason despite still not out of the hunt.
The rest of the 2026 season has given the Nationals a chance for some of the young pieces to shine, both in the majors and beyond.
In the minors, Jarlin Susana made his 2026 season debut in High A on Tuesday in what proved to be an electric showing. After recovering from lat surgery that cut his 2025 season short, Susana hit 103 mph while lasting two hitless innings where he tossed a pair of strikeouts.
Yet he wasn't the only Nationals pitcher to post an encouraging outing after left handed pitcher Jackson Kent, rated the eighth best prospect within the organization's farm system, made his MLB debut on Wednesday night in place of Miles Mikolas following his release. Kent went on to allow three earned runs and three hits across four innings and 78 pitches, including his first of six strikeouts materializing just five pitches into his first appearance. That foreshadowed what was to come after Kent notched three strikeouts in the inning, including two straight to head to the bottom of the first.
After a clean first four innings where he allowed a pair of walks and an infield single, manager Blake Butera turned to Jake Bird midway through the fifth inning after Kent allowed his first three batters to reach base, including an RBI double that tied the game at one. Yet it marked an encouraging first performance after becoming just the sixth pitcher in franchise history to record at least six strikeouts in his major league debut.
For a Nationals team that turned the page from its struggling veterans with Mikolas the second starting pitcher to be designated for assignment after Zack Littell, who has since been, who has since been signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, the pair of performances inject hope for the 2027 roster. Whether Susana can be the one to emerge next season to stabilize the closing spot could be an offseason storyline given the Nationals are approaching the MLB season record with 31 blown saves so far in 2026. Of course, whether others like Connelly Early ultimately make their debut could be another question as he battled elbow discomfort following his latest rehab outing,
