The Nationals signed right-hander Shawn Dubin to a minor league contract, as reflected on the team’s official transactions page. Dubin made his debut with Triple-A Rochester yesterday, tossing a scoreless inning of relief work.
Dubin has a 4.81 ERA, 22.3% strikeout rate, and 10.2% walk rate over 88 career innings in the majors, all with the Astros and Orioles during the 2023-25 seasons. The righty had spent his whole career in the Astros organization before he was designated for assignment last August and then claimed by Baltimore. The O’s outrighted Dubin in November and he caught on with the Diamondbacks on a minors deal, but he was released from that contract 10 days ago after just two games with Triple-A Reno.
Washington has already used 22 different pitchers this season, so Dubin has a good chance of making it back to the majors as part of the Nats’ bullpen churn. Dubin is out of minor league options, however, so any call-up may well be followed by a DFA if the Nationals want to get another fresh reliever in the pen.
The Nats’ bullpen is unsettled enough that there’s opportunity for Dubin to stick around if his contract is selected. Dubin’s history as a swingman and long reliever makes him a candidate to eat innings, and he has shown good-to-great strikeout ability in the minors, even if he has yet to miss many bats during his time in the majors.