Though he's expected to miss the start of the season, could the Washington Nationals see a bounce back from one of their top pitching prospects in 2026?
Pitching is among the biggest questions for the Washington Nationals ahead of the 2026 season, though if you've been following along, you will also know that was a spot that president of baseball operations Paul Toboni previously emphasized was a focus for the front office following the MacKenzie Gore trade and ahead of the 2026 season.
While the front office has remained quiet on that front in the days since, one storyline that will materialize later in the 2026 season is the return of right handed pitchers Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana, who rank inside MLB's top 100 prospects.
Both will enter the season with something to prove with both among the batch of non-roster spring training invites previously announced by the team, but Susana drew eyeballs across baseball this week after being tabbed as one of 15 players named by Ben Weinrib of MLB.com who are "primed to bounce back from injury" during 2026.
"The 6-foot-6 righty has enormous upside with a 70-grade fastball and slider, but he faces major questions about his durability and control that could push him to a back-end bullpen role," Weinrib noted. "Although Susana is expected to miss the start of the season recovering from injury, he will have a chance to address those questions in 2026 upon his return."
Susana's 2025 season ended in mid-September after the team announced he had undergone surgery that month to repair his right lateral muscle after suffering the injury during his start for Double-A Harrisburg on Aug. 30. He left the game after allowing three runs on one hit and three walks in less than two innings, along with limiting him to only 14 starts and just over 56 innings missed in the minor league.
He also missed nearly three months between May and June after recovering from a UCL sprain in his elbow, before returning to make eight starts between Double-A and High-A. He ultimately ended the season with a 1-4 record with a 3.51 ERA and 39% strikeout rate, but as he shifts to 2026, he will now look to prove himself as one of the Nationals' top arms after already drawing the title as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. During his injury-riddled season, Susana posted double digit strikeouts in three games despite never eclipsing five innings pitched in a game.
Susana arrived in the nation's capital as part of the return in the Juan Soto trade with the San Diego Padres back in 2022, while he's posted a 6-20 record across four seasons. He has also notched 380 career strikeouts against 142 walks in 268 innings pitched in the minors.
With pitchers and catchers set to report to spring training next week, Susana will return after a brief stint in major league camp last spring though he is not expected to be ready to open the 2026 season. What his timeline is remains to be seen with a return in 2026 fully expected where he will look to prove health critics wrong before getting a crack at the 40-man rotation in the 2027 season. For now, he'll remain part of a farm system that graded favorably in 2026 and trending in the right direction under new management.