Washington Nationals starter Foster Griffin notched a new season high after recording nine strikeouts in Friday night's win against the Miami Marlins
President of baseball operations Paul Toboni has taken some heat this offseason for the lack of attention to the pitching staff with the Washington Nationals ranked among the worst pitching staffs across baseball. Yet there is one ace who has been added to the rotation, ironically the one who became the first free agent signing under the new leadership.
Following a three year stint in Japan, Foster Griffin inked a one year deal with the Nationals this offseason where he was quickly penciled into the mix for the starting rotation. Yet six weeks into the 2026 regular season, Griffin has proven himself to be more than just a possible arm in the rotation, rather joining Cade Cavalli to add confidence atop the rotation.
After already becoming the third-ever Nationals pitcher to record three wins across his first five starts without taking a loss, Griffin entered the weekend series not allowing an earned run in 14 consecutive innings with a 2.27 ERA this season, and while the Miami Marlins may have been able to end the streak, the veteran put together another strong outing.
His eight strikeouts tied his season-high, doing so after becoming just the second National starter to last seven innings this season. He did so while allowing just one earned run, a solo shot to open the Marlins order, along with four hits in 103 pitches. He ended his night ranked eighth across all pitchers in MLB with a 2.12 ERA and 24th with a 1.029 WHIP.
It marked an encouraging outing for Griffin, who had never faced a batter in the Marlins' lineup during his career.
He did so after notching strikes on nearly 80% of his cutters, his go-to pitch so far as a National, while recording 17 whiffs to move to 3-1 on Friday night.
The issue for Washington is performances like Griffin have been rare across the rest of the pitching staff, but for the left hander he's also created value for himself on his one year, $5.5 million deal.
Earlier this month, Griffin was highlighted as the early prize among the international free agent pitchers this season after his 2.57 ERA across three seasons in Japan. While he's been a much needed boost to alleviate the biggest weakness through 39 games, he's also been the one viewed to have generated the most value ahead of the deadline. Whether that materializes remains to be seen with a chance for a strong haul in return for a pitcher who could likely elevate a playoff contender, but if Washington can find a way to upgrade the quality starts across the staff, maybe Griffin can materialize into a piece of the puzzle in the franchise's turnaround.
Until then, the Nationals will look to pick up the first four-game win streak when the two teams meet on Saturday.