The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Colin Poche. The veteran reliever signed a minor league deal with Washington last month, and he’ll now be a part of the team’s Opening Day roster.
Poche has pitched in four of the last six MLB seasons, as a Tommy John surgery shelved him for the entirety of the 2020-21 campaigns. He returned from that long layoff in pretty good form, posting a 3.27 ERA over 156 2/3 innings out of the Rays’ bullpen over the course of the 2022-24 seasons. His strikeout rate has declined over those three years, however, bottoming out at a modest 21.6% rate last year. Some back and shoulder injuries also sent Poche to the injured list, limiting him to 37 1/3 innings in what ended up as his final season in Tampa Bay.
The Rays opted to non-tender Poche rather than pay him a projected $3.4MM salary in what would’ve been his final season of arbitration eligibility. The terms of his deal with Washington aren’t publicly known, but the southpaw will now lock in a guaranteed salary as a result of making the team.
Jose A. Ferrer is the only other left-hander slated to be part of the Nats’ bullpen, so there was clearly an opening for Poche to step in as a second lefty even though Poche’s spring numbers haven’t been impressive (a 7.71 ERA in 4 2/3 innings). Amongst other southpaws on the 40-man roster, MacKenzie Gore and Mitchell Parker will be part of the starting rotation, and the Nationals yesterday optioned Shinnosuke Ogasawara and DJ Herz to Triple-A, where they will act as starting depth. Konnor Pilkington is also in the organization on a minor league deal, but it stands to reason that Washington might look to add another lefty or two as other teams make their final camp cuts.
In the past the Nats have gone with a single lefty in the pen or even none so not a given that they look for another now.
Veteran reliever? Wow, seems like yesterday that he was the PTBNL in that trade that brought Steven Souza Jr to the desert.
The Nationals know Poche is better than he looks right now. Other teams got scared off by his recent stats and injuries, but Washington sees he’s still got value—especially since they don’t have many lefty relievers. They’re betting he’ll get back to his old self, and because they got him for less money, it’s like buying a stock at a discount before it goes up. Plus, if he does well, they could trade him later when teams need pitchers midseason. It’s a sneaky, logical move that no one’s talking about, using other teams’ mistakes to their advantage.
Don’t screw the Poche, Colin.
Could be a pig in a Poche. But hopefully not.