With early concerns with the Washington Nationals pitching staff, is it time to start looking outside of the organization?
After another off day, the Washington Nationals will hit the road for the third road series of the 2026 season when they take on a Milwaukee Brewers squad coming off consecutive losses against the Boston Red Sox. Yet it marks a chance for the Nationals to pull off a statement with the Brewers leading the NL Central early with an 8-4 overall record.
The Nationals will also look for their first win against the Brewers since Aug. 4, 2024 when Mitchell Parker took the mound in a 4-3 win at home, but big picture, the team enters the new series with a chance to turn the page after a lackluster showing from the available arms thus far.
Jake Irvin is set to open the rotation on Friday with Foster Griffin, who drew recognition as an early rookie to watch to open the regular season, on Saturday followed by Zack Littell on Sunday. Irvin enters with a chance to turn the page with an ERA of 8 through his first two starts, yet the good news for him is that doesn't even rank within the three worst ERAs on the Nationals pitching staff.
After Miles Mikolas drew the early nod with an ERA eclipsing 14, he now sits third on the team with a 12.41 ERA with Cionel Perez leading the way with a 13.50 ERA followed by Andre Granillo, a 12.46 ERA through five games.
No team in baseball has three pitchers with a double digit ERA at this point in the season, while Mikolas still leads all starting pitchers as the only one with a double digit ERA.
Entering Friday, the Nationals lead MLB in team ERA (6.06), hits allowed (117) and home runs allowed (24). Washington is also tied with the Houston Astros for the most runs allowed (78) and is tied with the Chicago White Sox with 60 walks, the fourth most in MLB.
It's a humbling stat for the Nationals, yet one that was expected heading into the season with question marks whether it be with the starting pitching staff or bullpen, especially after the MacKenzie Gore trade.
It also begs the question how much blame president of baseball operations Paul Toboni and general manager Ani Kilambi deserve after largely relying on the waiver market to supplement the rotation, along with a trio of unproven or questionable free agent signings to finalize the rotation. Manager Blake Butera noted he was mindful of innings for his pitching staff in Wednesday's loss against the Cardinals with an off day ahead of them before kicking off the three-game series today.
Yet given it's still early April with 150 games left in the regular season, is it time for the front office to start looking outside of the organization?