The Nationals announced this evening that the club has designated right-hander Chad Kuhl for assignment. In a corresponding move, Washington has recalled right-hander Paolo Espino.
The move likely brings Kuhl’s tenure with Washington to an end. The 30-year-old veteran joined the Nationals on a minor league deal back in February, and Kuhl managed to crack the club’s Opening Day rotation after youngster Cade Cavalli was sidelined for the 2023 campaign by Tommy John surgery. Unfortunately, Kuhl struggled massively across five starts with the Nationals, posting an 9.41 ERA in 22 innings of work with a FIP of 6.91.
Kuhl was placed on the 15-day IL at the beginning of May after a difficult April with a sprained big toe in his right foot, and returned to the Nationals at the end of May in a multi-inning relief role. The results improved from there, but only slightly, as Kuhl allowed 15 runs (13 earned) in 16 1/3 innings of work out of the bullpen across 11 appearances. While those numbers are slightly inflated by two implosions against the Diamondbacks and Padres during which Kuhl allowed a combined eight runs in just 3 1/3 innings, it’s still easy to see why the Nationals pulled the plug on the veteran hurler.
Prior to his time in DC, Kuhl pitched for the Pirates in five seasons, swinging in and out of the rotation. He was a perfectly serviceable back-of-the-rotation arm during that time, with a 4.44 ERA (95 ERA+) in 439 2/3 innings of work during his time in Pittsburgh. Following his departure from the Pirates, Kuhl signed on with the Rockies on a one-year, $3MM deal that offered him a permanent spot in the Colorado rotation. Kuhl failed to impress with the opportunity, however, delivering a 5.72 ERA and 5.26 FIP across 27 starts with the Rockies.
Going forward, Kuhl seems likely to clear waivers and have the opportunity to choose between accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A with the Nationals or looking to catch on with another club on a minor league deal, though it’s at least theoretically possible that the Nationals could work out a trade with another club interested in Kuhl’s services.
As for Espino, the 36-year-old right-hander has been with the Nationals since 2020, pitching to a 4.56 ERA (88 ERA+) in 229 innings of work with the club split between the rotation and the bullpen. He’s posted similar numbers in Triple-A for the club this season, with an identical 4.56 ERA in 11 starts at the level this season. Espino figures to move back to the bullpen now that he’s with the big league club, as the Nationals stick with a starting five of Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams, MacKenzie Gore, and Jake Irvin.
Not Kuhl man, not Kuhl
The Nationals and Chad are no longer Kuhl for the summer…
Kuhlllll’s out… for… summer!!
Another Pirate product who fooled many of us. As a young pitcher, he seemed to have the stuff that would make for a nice few years here. But he never could control his fastball and for every one good start, he’d follow with 4 bad ones
Shame no one could straighten him out
I really think the Pirates should have tried him out in the bullpen. When he first came up, he was firing 94-97 MPH as a starter with a high-spin curveball and slider. But TJ surgery really knocked off any development he could have made at the time, and took a lot off his fastball. He still throws with above average velocity, and spin, so who knows, maybe someone can figure out how to utilize what he has left.
I would try him out in the bullpen right now, given the gas cans they’re currently running out.
agreed.
wouldn’t mind a reunion one bit.
he has his flaws but is semi valuable depth for a team desparate for innings
He represents the line of demarcation where Ray Searage’s tenure here was concerned. Great pitching coach who resurrected careers of AJ, Frankie, Volquez, Melancon, Grilli, Hanrahan but somewhere along the line, disconnected with younger guys like Glasnow, Kuhl and to an extent, Taillon
Would love to hear Searage’s views on all of this, but always seemed pretty clear
And yeah, why not bring Kuhl back at this point?
That’s a tough break but he always has his clothing company to fall back on. Nice stuff and the pants wear like iron. Maybe go up a size though. I’m a 32-34 waist and they can get bit dicey after a few beers and chow .
His wife has cancer so I feel bad for him because it’s tough to pitch effectively while worrying about your family
Wow. Never knew this. Agreed 100%. Sorry to read this
Claim him Rockies. We need pitching. Luckily the Angels missed an extra point so they are only up 23-0 instead of 24-0.
25
It was 23 when I made the comment. The second half of the game was actually very close. They only lost it 2-1.
Had to be done, but it’s all the more sad since his wife is battling cancer. Good luck to them.
’bout time. Sympathetic team story since his wife is battling breast cancer. All the best to the family. Alas, Chad did not pitch well. Espino, 36, has been pitching well enough at Rochester to help, but it’s too bad that there isn’t a younger stud at Triple A that can help the team. And Paolo’s career 4.70 ERA isn’t exactly awe-inspiring. In fact, there IS a stud down in AA ball, Jackson Rutledge, who is 6-1 with a 3.16 ERA. All the metrics look good, so what are they waiting for?