Nationals Sign Matt Krook To Major League Deal

The Nationals announced this afternoon that they’ve signed left-hander Matt Krook to a major league deal and activated him. He takes the place of PJ Poulin on the active roster, with Poulin going on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 16th) for a left flexor strain. To clear space on the 40-man roster, Richard Lovelady was transferred to the 60-day IL.

It’s a quick reunion for the Nationals and Krook, whom the team designated for assignment on July 12th. Krook cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Rochester, which he rejected in favor of free agency. After five days exploring the market, he ultimately returns to Washington as a fresh arm in place of Poulin. He’ll slot in as a low-leverage arm for however long he’s up this time.

Krook, 31, has only thrown 14 2/3 big league innings since debuting in 2023, though he’s actually pretty well-traveled. Originally a fourth-round pick by the Giants in 2016, he’s now with his seventh organization in the Nationals. Krook has considerably more experience at Triple-A, having first reached that level in 2021 while a member of the Yankees. From 2021-26, he’s thrown at least 29 innings at Triple-A in every season, and he’s only posted an ERA over 4.00 once (a 4.09 mark in 138 2/3 innings in 2022). He’s exclusively worked out of the bullpen since the start of 2023.

The profile is that of a Quad-A depth arm. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Krook stick around for a few games, get designated for assignment, then repeat the process of electing free agency and re-signing. For comparison, he only made three appearances for the Nationals between July 4th, when they claimed him from the Athletics, and July 12th, when he was designated.

Poulin heads to the IL in the midst of a polarizing season numbers-wise. On the one hand, he has a 2.70 ERA through 36 2/3 innings, improving on last year’s 3.65 ERA. He also gets grounders at an above-average 46.2% clip. On the other hand, Poulin’s strikeout and walk rates are significantly worse than average, and judging by opposing hitters’ .225 average on balls in play, his true talent is closer to his 5.37 expected ERA than the 2.70 figure. The severity of the flexor strain is not yet clear, but it’s nonetheless a cause for concern given that flexor strains can be precursors to Tommy John surgery. It’s possible the team will provide further information on Poulin’s timeline in the coming days.

Lovelady was acquired by the Nats in a cash trade with the Mets back in April. He’s since tossed 23 innings with a serviceable 3.91 ERA, although his 6.16 xERA suggests he’s been lucky to achieve that. Lovelady had been on the 15-day IL since June 29th with a left triceps strain, and with today’s transfer, he’s now going to be on the shelf until late August at best.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images