Nationals Claim Wyatt Mills Off Waivers From Dodgers

The Washington Nationals claimed Wyatt Mills off waivers on Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Rochester. Mills joined the Nationals organization three days after he was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

That came as the corresponding move to the Dodgers calling up Jonathan Hernández from Triple-A Oklahoma City prior to their series opener against the Chicago Cubs. The Hernández and Mills swap was among a series of roster moves the Dodgers made that day, which included Dalton Rushing going on the 10-day injured list amid a slightly torn UCL.

Mills had been part of the Dodgers organization since signing a Minor League contract prior to the start of Spring Training. He was announced among the team’s initial group of non-roster invitees to big league camp for 2026.

Wyatt Mills’ MLB experience

Prior to appearing in six games for the Dodgers this season, the right-hander had previous MLB experience with the Seattle Mariners (2021-22) and Kansas City Royals (2022). Though, that only amounted to 38 games over parts of the two seasons.

Mills first was added onto the Dodgers roster back in May to give the team a fresh arm in their bullpen. He was optioned nine days later, then got recalled on June 30 in a stint that only lasted one day. Mills returned to the Dodgers on Aug. 1 and was DFA’d two days later.

That came after he pitched two innings on Sunday, allowing one run on two hits with one strikeout and two walks. Mills pitched 6.1 innings with a 5.68 ERA and 2.21 WHIP in his six games with the Dodgers.

Overall in his MLB career, Mills is 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA and 1.63 WHIP across 44 relief appearances. While with the OKC Comets this season, Mills held a 2.41 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 37.1 innings in 33 games.

Given that the bulk of Mills’ success this season was at the Triple-A level, it stands to reason the Nationals will primarily utilize him as organizational depth. They do have some flexibility, however, as Mills can still be optioned to the Minors this season.

That was leveraged by the Dodgers until they faced a crunch with their 40-man roster at the time of needing to add Hernández to the bullpen at the beginning of this week.