From Home Depot aisles to Opening Day dreams, Brad Lord now enters 2026 as a key part of the Washington Nationals rotation.
The Washington Nationals enter 2026 with questions along their starting pitching rotation with now a debate who the Opening Day starter will be when they take the field at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs on March 26. But they'll also enter 2026 with a cool story back on the roster with right hander Brad Lord now expected to be part of the starting pitching rotation.
Of course, Lord made headlines ahead of the 2025 season after lugging mulch and Christmas trees at Home Depot during the offseason before drawing Nationals spring training as a non-roster invitee, then being named to the team's Opening Day roster.
"I was working in the garden section then once the Christmas trees came to Home Depot, moved to the Christmas tree tent. And I was actually helping people pick out Christmas trees, cut them to length and then tie them onto their cars," Lord said on SiriusXM radio this week. "I actually really enjoyed that, the Christmas tree tent always smelled really great and I always went home smelling like a Christmas tree."
After five seasons in the minor leagues including one in Triple-A in 2024, Lord finished 25-32 with 450 strikeouts to 160 walks and a 3.94 ERA across 131 games. He also finished 8-1 with a 1.4 ERA in Double-A in 2022 before being promoted to his 12 appearances in Triple-A, marking likely his final appearance in the minors.
With the Nationals in 2025, Lord posted a 5-10 record with 108 strikeouts to 43 walks across over 130 innings pitched, 19 starts and 48 appearances.
Lord was also projected as part of Washington's projected Opening Day rotation alongside Josiah Gray, Cade Cavalli, Foster Griffin - the lone free agency signing this offseason - joining Jake Irvin in the rotation. The expectation also remains that both Trevor Williams and DJ Herz open the season on the 60-day injured list, which opens two more spots for Paul Toboni and the front office to potentially bolster the starting pitching rotation, like Toboni previously hinted.
"With MacKenzie Gore traded to the Rangers in a blockbuster deal, it will be up to a healthy Josiah Gray to anchor a rotation that could be the worst in baseball by a wide margin," Joel Reuter wrote on Monday. "The 28-year-old was an All-Star in 2023, but Tommy John surgery has limited him to just 8.1 innings over the last two seasons, and he will look to shake off the rust and assume the role of staff ace this spring."
Pitchers and catchers are set to report to spring training next Wednesday, February 11 with the first full squad workout set for the following Monday, February 16. The Nationals are then set to kick off spring training on Saturday, February 21st against both the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros.