Nationals select veteran reliever to 40-man roster

The Nationals announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Colin Poche. The veteran reliever signed a minor-league deal with Washington last month, and he’ll now be a part of the team’s Opening Day roster.

Poche has pitched in four of the last six MLB seasons, as a Tommy John surgery shelved him for the entirety of the 2020-21 campaigns. He returned from that long layoff in pretty good form, posting a 3.27 ERA over 156 2/3 innings out of the Rays’ bullpen over the course of the 2022-24 seasons. His strikeout rate has declined over those three years, however, bottoming out at a modest 21.6% rate last year. Some back and shoulder injuries also sent Poche to the injured list, limiting him to 37 1/3 innings in what ended up as his final season in Tampa Bay.

The Rays opted to non-tender Poche rather than pay him a projected $3.4M salary in what would’ve been his final season of arbitration eligibility. The terms of his deal with Washington aren’t publicly known, but the southpaw will now lock in a guaranteed salary as a result of making the team.

Jose A. Ferrer is the only other left-hander slated to be part of the Nats’ bullpen, so there was clearly an opening for Poche to step in as a second lefty even though Poche’s spring numbers haven’t been impressive (a 7.71 ERA in 4 2/3 innings). Amongst other southpaws on the 40-man roster, MacKenzie Gore and Mitchell Parker will be part of the starting rotation, and the Nationals on Friday optioned Shinnosuke Ogasawara and DJ Herz to Triple-A, where they will act as starting depth. Konnor Pilkington is also in the organization on a minor league deal, but it stands to reason that Washington might look to add another lefty or two as other teams make their final camp cuts.