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Israel Pineda

Nationals Outright Israel Pineda

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The Nationals announced that catcher Israel Pineda, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared outright waivers and has been assigned to Triple-A Rochester. He will stick with the club but without taking up a roster spot.

Pineda, 24 in April, was added to the Nationals’ roster in September of 2022 when Keibert Ruiz was injured. Pineda was kept mostly on the bench, only playing four games, hitting .077/.143/.077 in his 14 plate appearances. He then endured a challenging 2023 season, beginning the campaign on the injured list due to a right finger fracture. He was slowed by an oblique strain while rehabbing and wasn’t reinstated from the IL until early August, getting optioned to the minors at that time. Between his rehab stints and optionable assignment, he hit just .176/.229/.268 in 41 minor league games on the year.

Defensively, Baseball Prospectus looks fondly upon his work with the throwing game but is less enthused about his framing and blocking. That tracks with a scouting report from Baseball America, with that outlet still considering Pineda to be the #21 prospect in the system, but noting that his framing is a work in progress.

Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright or three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to reject this assignment. He will stick with the Nats as non-roster depth behind Ruiz, Riley Adams and Drew Millas. Pineda will look to get back to the form he showed at the plate in 2022, when he hit 16 home runs in 99 games across three different minor league levels. He finished that year with a combined slash line of .258/.325/.458 and wRC+ of 111 before getting called up to the majors.

Nationals Designate Israel Pineda

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The Nationals announced that catcher Israel Pineda has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for Joey Gallo, whose one-year, $5MM contract with D.C. is now official.

Pineda was a member of the Nationals’ 2016 international signing class, and he has spent his entire career in the organization.  Still only 23 years old, Pineda has hit .231/.291/.374 over 1529 plate appearances in the minor leagues, though he hit quite well at Double-A in 2022 and earned his first MLB call-up that September when Keibert Ruiz went on the injured list.

After appearing in his first four big league games, Pineda didn’t make it back to the Show in 2023 due in large part to injuries.  A fractured ring finger and an oblique strain limited Pineda to just 41 total games, and he had only a .496 OPS over 153 PA split over three minor league levels.  This rough year made Pineda expendable on Washington’s 40-man, though there might be a chance he simply clears waivers and remains in the minors as a depth option.

Ruiz and Riley Adams have the catching situation covered at the MLB level for the Nats, leaving Drew Millas (with 11 games) as the only other backstop in the organization with any Major League experience.  If Pineda isn’t brought back, the Nationals figure to be in the market for some veteran depth to bring into Spring Training on a minors deal.

Nationals Place Paolo Espino On Release Waivers

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The Nationals announced a series of roster moves today as they reinstated right-hander Trevor Williams from the bereavement list, reinstated catcher Israel Pineda from the 60-day injured list, and optioned him to Double-A. In a corresponding move, right-hander Paolo Espino was placed on unconditional release waivers.

Williams signed a two-year, $13MM deal with the Nationals ahead of the 2023 on the heels of a solid season as a swingman for the Mets last year, when he posted a 3.21 ERA and 3.88 FIP in 89 1/3 innings of work. In a full-time rotation role this season, Williams hasn’t been able to replicate that success, as he’s struggled to a 4.72 ERA and 5.55 FIP in 22 starts. Among pitchers who have recorded at least 100 innings this season, Williams’ 0.4 fWAR ranks ahead of only Michael Kopech of the White Sox and Martin Perez of the Rangers.

While Williams has struggled as a full-time starter this season, the former second round pick has previous success as a rotation piece dating back to 2018, when he posted a 3.11 ERA in 170 1/3 innings of work with the Pirates. He’ll look to get back on track through the remainder of the 2023 campaign with an eye toward 2024, where he figures to continue as a rotation option for Washington alongside the likes of Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, and Patrick Corbin.

Pineda, 22, has just four games of big league experience under his belt and has missed the entire season to this point due to a fractured ring finger and an oblique strain. He’s ranked as the club’s 23rd best prospect per MLB Pipeline and 17th per Fangraphs. While Pineda could be ready for a longer-team big league role as soon as next season, the Nationals are fairly well set up at the major league level behind the plate with a tandem of youngsters in the form of Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams.

Espino, 36, had been on the 15-day IL since mid-July with a flexor strain. He pitched just four innings with the big league Nationals this season, during which he allowed 11 runs on 14 hits and three walks while striking out three. Prior to his disastrous stint with the club earlier this season, Espino had spent the last two seasons as a fixture of Washington’s pitching staff, throwing 223 innings across 77 appearances (38 starts) to a 4.56 ERA and 4.70 FIP. Going forward, Espino will likely have to look for a new minor league deal as he looks for a new team to rehab his current injury with.

Nationals Select Rico Garcia

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3:55pm: The Nationals have now made it official, announcing Garcia’s selection. In corresponding moves, right-hander Paolo Espino was placed on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain of his fourth right finger while catcher Israel Pineda was transferred to the 60-day IL. The move for Pineda is simply a formality as he’s already been on the IL all year, much longer than 60 days, meaning he can be reinstated at any point.

8:55am: The Nationals will select the contract of right-hander Rico Garcia from Triple-A Rochester, MLBTR has confirmed. Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post reported this morning that the move was expected to be made today. They’ll need a 40-man roster move to make that official. It’s possible there will be other additions, as Dougherty suggests the team is in a scramble following yesterday’s blowout loss to the Cubs.

The 29-year-old Garcia joined the Nats on a minor league deal just last week after rejecting an outright from the A’s, who’d designated him for assignment. He was tagged for eight runs in 8 2/3 innings during his brief time with Oakland, but Garcia has pitched well in Triple-A this year and continued that trend with the Nats. He’s tossed 2 1/3 shutout frames in Rochester, punching out three hitters along the way.

That drops Garcia to a 2.93 ERA in 27 2/3 innings this season. Dating back to last year, the righty has a 2.60 ERA with a strikeout rate north of 29% against a 13% walk rate in 62 1/3 Triple-A innings. The latter of those two rates is obviously a concern, but Garcia’s results at the top minor league level have been strong nonetheless.

The Nats will be Garcia’s fifth big league team. In addition to the A’s, he’s spent time with the Orioles, Giants and Rockies but never received a lengthy look at the MLB level. He’s tossed just 32 2/3 innings across parts of four seasons, recording a composite 6.29 ERA in those scattered opportunities.

Washington has ample uncertainty in the bullpen, particularly with Hunter Harvey and Carl Edwards Jr. on the injured list at the moment. The trio of Amos Willingham, Paolo Espino and Jose Ferrer was tagged for 14 run in relief of Patrick Corbin yesterday. Kyle Finnegan and Mason Thompson are the lone established relievers in the Nats’ bullpen at the moment, and the former is a trade candidate, given that he’s into his arbitration years and only has two years of club control remaining beyond the current season.

Nationals Select Four Players

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The Nationals have announced their Opening Day roster, revealing within that they’ve selected the contracts of four non-roster invitees to spring training: righty Chad Kuhl, lefty Anthony Banda, infielder Michael Chavis and right-hander Hobie Harris. In order to make room on the roster, the Nats placed right-handers Cade Cavalli, Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Rainey and Victor Arano on the 60-day injured list. Infielder Carter Kieboom and catcher Israel Pineda were placed on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder impingement and fractured finger, respectively.

Kuhl was widely expected to claim a spot in the rotation following the unfortunate news that Cavalli, Washington’s top pitching prospect, would miss the upcoming season due to Tommy John surgery. The veteran Kuhl, 30, tossed 17 2/3 innings this spring, allowing 10 runs on 18 hits and seven walks with 15 strikeouts along the way.

Kuhl spent the 2022 season in Colorado, getting out to a strong three-month start that he capped off with a shutout of the Dodgers at Coors  Field. That gem dropped his ERA to 3.49, but Kuhl was clobbered for 29 runs in 25 2/3 innings over his next six starts before a hip strain sent him to the injured list. He was hit hard upon returning three weeks later, and the Rox put him back on the injured list with what proved to be a season-ending triceps strain. Clearly not pitching at 100% down the stretch, Kuhl was shelled for 57 runs in his final 59 2/3 innings, ballooning his ERA to 5.72. Prior to that season, he tossed 439 2/3 innings over several seasons in Pittsburgh, logging a much more respectable 4.44 ERA.

Banda, 29, once ranked as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects but hasn’t yet established himself as a viable big leaguer in parts of six MLB campaigns. He’s had some brief success with the 2018 Rays and 2021 Pirates, but overall the journeyman southpaw carries a 5.64 ERA in 111 2/3 Major League innings. He yielded seven runs on seven hits and five walks in 11 spring innings. Despite that unsightly 5.64 ERA, Banda likely impressed the Nats by striking out 14 of 46 batters (30.4%). He’ll open the season as the lone lefty in manager Dave Martinez’s bullpen.

The 27-year-old Chavis was the Red Sox’ first-round pick in 2014 and, like Banda, once ranked among the game’s top 100 farmhands. He had an encouraging rookie season, batting .254/.322/.444 with 18 home runs in just 382 plate appearances, but in 708 MLB plate appearances since that time he’s mustered only a .229/.263/.388 output with a concerning 30.8% strikeout rate. He’s been primarily a first baseman, but Chavis has experience at second base, third base and in the outfield corners. He’ll be a righty bat off Martinez’s bench.

Harris’ selection to the roster was announced earlier in the week by his agent, Matt Gaeta. It caps an eight-year minor league grind for the former Yankees 31st-rounder, who held opponents to one run on three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 10 innings this spring. Harris spent the 2022 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A club, where he pitched to a 2.04 ERA with a 27% strikeout rate. He’s likely ticketed for a middle-relief role early in the year.

None of the 60-day IL placements come as a major surprise. Cavalli’s Tommy John surgery was announced earlier in camp, as was Strasburg’s setback in his recovery from thoracic outlet surgery. A timetable for the 2019 World Series MVP remains unclear. Rainey had Tommy John surgery last August, so he was never going to be an option until late in the season, at best. Arano is the only mild surprise of the bunch, but the Nats announced midway through the month that he was dealing with a shoulder impingement and would be shut down for at least 10 days. The Nats are now classifying the injury as a strain, and no timetable for his return has been provided.

Nationals To Place Keibert Ruiz On Injured List, Select Israel Pineda

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The Nationals will place catcher Keibert Ruiz on the 10-day injured list Friday and select the contract of fellow catcher Israel Pineda from Triple-A Rochester, as first reported by TalkNats (Twitter links). They’ll also recall righty Jordan Weems from Rochester. The team hasn’t formally announced the moves, though Pineda’s reps at PNY Sports have announced his promotion to the big leagues (Twitter link).

Ruiz was injured behind the plate yesterday when he took a foul ball off his groin. While he initially remained in the game for a few innings, he was eventually lifted and replaced by Riley Adams. Manager Dave Martinez told reporters after the game that Ruiz was headed to a hospital for further evaluation due to swelling in his testicles.

The 24-year-old Ruiz was widely considered one of the top prospects in all of baseball prior to his arrival on the big league scene, and he was one of the headline talents acquired in the blockbuster deal that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from D.C. to L.A. at the 2021 trade deadline. He’s had a solid but unspectacular showing at the plate in his first full year with the Nats, batting .251/.313/.360. That’s 11% worse than the league-average hitter, by measure of wRC+, but right in line with the average production among big league catchers.

The Nats didn’t necessarily need to replace Ruiz with another catcher, as they were already carrying three, with both Adams and Tres Barrera on the big league roster. They’ll stick with that three-catcher arrangement for now, though, and in doing so will get their first look at the 22-year-old Pineda, who’s had a breakout season across three minor league levels.

Pineda hit just .208/.260/.389 in High-A last year but has soared from that level all the way to Triple-A in 2022. He followed up a solid .264/.325/.443 showing in 67 High-A games with an excellent .280/.340/.538 output in 26 games at the Double-A level. He’s just 2-for-21 in his first six Triple-A contests, but Pineda’s combined .258/.325/.458 batting line this year is plenty productive — particularly for a catcher. Pineda has nabbed an impressive 41% of runners who’ve attempted to steal against him in parts of five professional seasons.

Pineda currently checks in as the No. 22 prospect at FanGraphs, No. 23 at Baseball America and No. 26 at MLB.com in what’s obviously considered a much-improved farm system following the complete roster tear-down in Washington. Given his performance in 2022, Pineda would likely have been added to the 40-man roster this winter anyhow, as the Nats would’ve needed to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft. They’ll now get an early look at him, at least for the next few days.

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