Nationals Select Erik Tolman

The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Erik Tolman. Right-hander Yovanny Cruz has been optioned to Triple-A Rochester in a corresponding active roster move. The 40-man had a vacancy but is now full.

Tolman, 27, took a winding road to this moment. Earlier this year, he spoke to David Laurila of FanGraphs about it. He had Tommy John surgery in 2021 while at Arizona State University. The Nats drafted him that summer anyway, taking him with a 14th-round pick. After 14 months of rehab, he tore his ulnar collateral ligament again and required yet another surgery.

He was back on the mound in 2023 but then suffered a significant lower body injury. At the beginning of a game, he went to jump over the foul line but his foot got stuck in the turf. “It was a torn ACL, a torn PCL, a torn LCL, the hamstring tore off the bone,” Tolman said. “And then the more serious damage was the nerve damage in my right foot. The peroneal nerve ruptured, which resulted in a foot drop. It was paralyzed for over a year. I had surgery to fix it, so now I’m only limited in my mobility. I can only go up and down. I can’t go in or out at all, and I still can’t feel the top of my foot. I had to teach myself to walk again. I basically had to rewire my brain in order to walk, run, or even drive.”

Tolman had logged 28 minor league innings in 2023 but missed the entire 2024 season during that ordeal related to his foot and leg. Last year, he was healthy enough to throw 95 2/3 innings on the farm over 33 appearances, 13 of those being starts. Splitting his time between Hugh-A and Double-A, he allowed 3.67 earned runs per nine while striking out 24.1% of opponents. His 13.5% walk rate was fairly high but perhaps not surprising for a guy who had missed so much time.

He has been kept in a relief role this year. He has made 32 appearances at the Triple-A level. One of those was officially a start but he only went one inning as an opener. In 31 innings on the whole, he has a 5.23 ERA. His 16.3% walk rate is quite high but he has punched out 29.8% of batters faced and induced grounders on 53.3% of balls in play.

He has a full slate of options and might end up getting shuttled to Triple-A and back for a while. But for now, after overcoming many obstacles, Tolman will get a shot to take the mound in the big leagues.