Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams told members of the media today that he has a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament and will undergo surgery. He is expecting it to be internal brace surgery, though a full Tommy John procedure is still a possibility. He will therefore miss the remainder of this season and possibly all of 2026 as well. He’s already on the 60-day injured list. Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post was among those to pass the news along.
Williams, 33, made his most recent start on Wednesday of last week. The first game of a doubleheader against the Tigers, Williams had a less-than-ideal experience. He struggled in the top of the first but, with a long day ahead, the Nats left him out there to take a beating. Pitchers usually aren’t allowed to throw more than 3o to 40 pitches in a single inning but the Nats let Williams throw 54 in that frame, as he eventually got out of it with six runs having scored. He tossed two more innings after that.
Two days later, he was placed on the 15-day IL with an elbow sprain. Yesterday, he was transferred to the 60-day IL, which indicated the Nats didn’t expect him back for a few months. With the news of this surgery, he’ll be out much longer than that. The timelines for an internal brace procedure can be a bit shorter than with a full Tommy John, though it’s still usually about a year.
Williams has been part of Washington’s rotation since 2023. He signed a two-year, $13MM deal ahead of that 2023 season. The first campaign in Washington didn’t go especially well, as he posted a 5.55 earned run average over his 31 starts.
Last year, he showed significant improvement, though in a smaller sample size. He missed a few months with a flexor strain, limiting him to just 13 starts, but with a 2.03 ERA. There was surely some good luck in there, as his .267 batting average on balls in play and 80.2% strand rate were both to the fortunate side. Part of the reason he was able to strand so many runners is that only 4.2% of his fly balls left the yard, a massive drop from his 17% rate in 2023. But on the other hand, his 22.7% strikeout rate, 6.9% walk rate and 45.4% ground ball rate were all strong figures. His 2.79 FIP and 3.96 SIERA suggested he could post good numbers even with some regression in the luck department.
The Nats decided to bring him back to serve as a veteran back-end guy, an understandable move for a rebuilding club with lots of inexperienced starters. They gave him another two-year deal, with the $14MM guarantee amounting to a slight pay bump compared to his prior deal. Unfortunately, his luck turned far in the other direction this year. In 17 starts, he posted a 6.21 ERA here in 2025. His strikeout rate dropped to 17.4% and his grounder rate to 33%, but he still only walked 5.6% of opponents. His .347 BABIP and 61.6% strand rate both swung far to the unlucky side. His 4.08 FIP and 4.46 SIERA suggested some correction over the rest of the season may have been likely but that won’t happen now.
Williams will spend the rest of this year on the shelf and will start next year on the IL as well. Depending on his surgery and rehab, he could work his way into the mix during the 2026 season. Whether there’s a rotation spot for him there will depend upon what the Nats do this winter.
For now, they have a rotation consisting of MacKenzie Gore, Michael Soroka, Mitchell Parker, Jake Irvin and Shinnosuke Ogasawara. Soroka is on a one-year deal and likely to be dealt this month. Gore has been the subject of some trade speculation since the Nats are struggling to come out of their rebuild and he’s only controlled for two more seasons after this one, but there hasn’t been any real suggestion the Nats want to make such a move. Parker and Irvin are serviceable back-end guys. Ogasawara only has one major league start so far, which didn’t go especially well.
Josiah Gray had UCL surgery last summer and could perhaps be back in the mix later this year. Cade Cavalli is in Triple-A and could be back in the majors at some point. Prospects like Travis Sykora or Jarlin Susana could get into the mix down the line but both are currently injured and neither has reached the Triple-A level yet.
If the Nats want to accelerate the end of their rebuild, spending some money to bolster this rotation group would be a sensible plan for this winter. However, the future is currently murky, with manager Dave Martinez and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo having just been fired a few days ago.
Photos courtesy of David Frerker and Geoff Burke, Imagn Images
Bummer!
TJS at age 33 sucks. Probably going to settle for a cheap two-year deal.
He’s in year 1 of a 2-year deal with the Nats
Ah, did not know that thank you for the clarification. He’s good for next year then.
Seeing that the Nats allowed him to throw 54 pitches in an inning, and then proceed to bring him back out there for two more innings is basically abuse of pitcher.
Almost unfathomable in this day and age to do that – almost lawsuit-worthy under the circumstances. It points out that the coaching and training side must have been an utter cluster**ck down there.
Rizzo had an offseason for the ages
Time to call up Cavalli after the all-star break
He has been getting hit hard recently.
I never understood why he was signed for 2 years. Did he have several offers? So another bust in free agency.
Nope, He didn’t sign until Dec 31, 2024. Nobody else wanted him at that price. Rizzo overpaid.
Bringing Williams back at $7 million a season was a terrible move, and they certainly shouldn’t retain him beyond next season. His season stats last year were skewed by the fact he started 5-0 before missing nearly four months. It was also quite clearly a career year, as he hadn’t been a good starter since 2018. Williams wanted more money after that career year but nobody was offering a better deal so he resigned on Dec. 31, 2024.
Cavalli’s been out since having TJ after his first MLB start in 2022! He was Rizzo’s 1st round pick (#22 overall) out of Oklahoma in 2020. At the time of his promotion in 2022, he was the Nats #1 pitching prospect. Yesterday he gave up 7 ER 8 H in 3.2 IP vs, Worcester, Out of 44 swings, Worcester only missed four times. It was the 2nd straight start he’d given up 7 runs. In June he had w 5.64 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in 22.1 IP. It looks like he’s gone from a potential mid rotation starter to a bullpen arm,
Gray and C Kiebert Ruiz were the centerpieces of the Scherzer and Turner to the Dodgers deal, This one went the exact opposite way of the Soto deal. Ruiz’s contract is “underwater” and Gray’s 27 yrs old now with only one good year. He had a 3.1 WAR season in 2023. His FIP was 4.93, over a run higher than his 3.91 ERA. Gray tinkers too much (at one point he had eight pitches) and is a gopher ball pitcher. He gave up 22 in 2023 and 38 in 2022.
IMO the Nats absolutely need to get LSU LHP Kade Anderson, spend money and start winning next year. Unless they’re going to abort and blow up this rebuild attempt like the CWS aborted and blew up their previous rebuild attempt a couple years ago, they can’t wait on a HS player like Holliday. Blowing up this rebuild would be really stupid. It would risk becoming irrelevant in the local area. Unlike Chicago and some other MLB cities, the DC area isn’t a great “baseball town.” Even those of us who grew up here have divided loyalties because we grew up Orioles fans…and lapsed because of Angelos. He’s thankfully gone.
DC’s not a great baseball town that’s going to continue to support more losing. DC’s a “Commanders town” that wants to be a “basketball town” but the Bullets/Wiz are cursed. The situation’s not as bad as Tampa, Miami and the A’s, but it could get that way eventually if the Lerners don’t spend money or sell to somebody who will.
A 7MM AAV for two years after pitching to a 2+ ERA is not a “terrible” move. There are much worse contracts than that.
When the pitcher is 32 and hasn’t had a good season since 2018, yes it absolutely is. Williams wasn’t a kid that had a breakthrough. The chance of that occuring at age 32 is so miniscule it’s rediculous. He had a career “year”…that consisted of only 13 starts. That’s why *nobody* else in MLB wanted him at that price. It’s not like the Nats snapped him up right after the end of the World Series. He lingered on free agency until New Year’s Eve.
Another Tommy John. Internal brace. Ok. See you in a few yrs.
Have a speedy recovery Trevor!