The Nationals are signing reliever Tyler Danish to a minor league contract, reports the Talk Nats blog (Twitter link). He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Rochester.
Danish spent the 2022 campaign with the Red Sox. He appeared in 32 games and threw a personal-high 40 1/3 innings. He allowed 5.13 earned runs per nine innings, striking out a below-average 16.1% of opponents while issuing walks at a lofty 12.9% rate. He kept the ball on the ground at a better than average clip but nevertheless surrendered 1.56 home runs per nine.
Boston cut Danish loose at the end of last season. He latched on with the Yankees on a minor league deal over the winter. The former second round pick spent the spring in camp with New York but had a brutal few weeks. Opponents teed off for 19 runs on 18 hits (including five homers) in just six innings. The Yankees released Danish at the end of camp. After a month on the open market, he’ll get a fresh start with Washington.
The Nationals’ bullpen ranks 19th in the majors with a 4.38 ERA. They’re 28th with a 19.9% strikeout percentage but sit ninth with a 45% ground-ball rate. Danish brings a similar grounder-oriented profile to add some experience to the high minors. The 28-year-old has yet to qualify for arbitration and would be an affordable addition to the bullpen if he pitches well enough to earn an MLB spot. He’s out of minor league option years, so the Nats would have to keep him in the majors or designate him for assignment if he secures a big league call at any point.
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