Nationals Promote Top Prospect To MLB Roster With Debut Expected To Come

The Washington Nationals need pitching help in a major way.

Their bullpen has been one of the worst units in the bigs all season long, and their starting rotation has not been much better outside of MacKenzie Gore.

With a doubleheader taking place against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday, the Nationals have decided to promote one of their top prospects, Andry Lara, to the MLB roster, per an announcement made by the team.

More News: Top NCAA Coach Thinks Nationals' First Overall Pick in MLB Draft Is Clear

If the 22-year-old is inserted into either one of the games, that would be his Major League debut.

Lara was signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2019, but he didn't make his professional debut in Washington's organization until the 2021 season.

Since then, the right-hander has had some ups and downs.

More News: Nationals Have Two Prospects Heading to MLB All-Star Futures Game This Season

His career ERA of 4.64 to go along with 380 strikeouts in 413 innings pitched won't blow anyone away, but he has enough tools to be ranked 16th in the Nationals' pipeline at the moment.

Washington also could feel like Lara will perform much better out of the bullpen.

He's made 91 appearances in his minor league career with 88 of them being starts, so perhaps moving him into more of a shorter innings role could help his stuff play better.

More News: Kyle Finnegan Gives His Thoughts on Struggles of Young Nationals Relievers

What he'll have to overcome is his lack of devastating fastball, something that has hurt his ability to utilize his strong breaking pitches. But again, transitioning into a relief role could allow him to tick up his velocity to make his fastball a stronger offering.

It will be interesting to see how Lara looks when he makes his debut.

He likely will be sent down immediately after the doubleheader is complete because he's just the 27th man on the roster for Wednesday's two-game action, but considering how poorly this unit has performed all year, there's a chance he could play his way into a spot down the line.

For more Nationals news, head over to Nationals On SI.