Nationals To Release Cole Henry

The Nationals announced Monday that they’ve requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Cole Henry. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to left-hander DJ Herz, who has wrapped up his rehab from last summer’s UCL surgery and been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Henry was placed on the minor league injured list about four weeks ago. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers, so once the Nats settled on Henry as the corresponding 40-man move for Herz’s return, their only option was to release him.

A second-round pick out of LSU back in 2020, Henry signed a $2MM bonus out of the draft and previously ranked among the Nationals’ top prospects. He’s yet to solidify himself in the majors, in large part because injuries have regularly set him back. Chief among those health troubles was a 2022 surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome, but Henry has also missed time due to elbow pain, a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder and a back strain. The Nats didn’t provide an injury designation at the time of his most recent IL placement with Triple-A Rochester.

The 6’4″, 200-pound Henry has pitched 66 1/3 big league innings, all coming in 2025-26. He’s logged a 5.02 earned run average in that time while posting a 21.5% strikeout rate that’s just shy of average and an unsightly 12.5% walk rate. He tossed 22 minor league innings this year and was torched for an ERA north of 6.00 despite a tidy 21-to-2 K/BB ratio.

Henry works primarily off a four-seamer and slider combo, though he’ll mix in an occasional sinker and cutter, too. The go-to four-seamer has average 93.8 mph this year, while he’s sat 82.2 mph on the slider. With all of his injuries (plus the canceled 2020 minor league season), Henry has pitched only 218 2/3 professional innings despite being drafted more than six years ago. Interest in the right-hander this winter will depend on his health outlook, but Henry is still 27 years old with a minor league option year remaining. He should command interest on a minor league deal — perhaps even back with the Nationals themselves. It’s fairly common for players in similar situations to simply re-sign with their previous organization.

Herz, 25, made a big impression with the 2024 Nats, who’d previously acquired him in a trade sending Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs. The 2019 eighth-rounder started 19 games and posted a 4.16 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and 36.4% ground-ball rate in 88 2/3 innings as a rookie. Metrics like SIERA (3.77) and FIP (3.71) were more bullish on his work than his earned run average.

Herz’s rehab this season stopped and started a couple times, so he’s made 10 starts in the minors — albeit pitching only 25 2/3 innings overall. He’s notched a 3.16 ERA, 29.1% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate in that time. Herz was roughed up for six runs in 2 1/3 innings against the Mets’ Triple-A club on Sept. 1 but otherwise never allowed more than one earned run in any of this year’s rehab outings.

Whether out of the rotation or the bullpen, Herz figures to get a few innings in with the Nats over the season’s final week. He’ll be in the mix for next year’s rotation — a group headlined by recently extended breakout starter Cade Cavalli. Others in the rotation mix include deadline pickup Connelly Early, rookies Jackson Kent and Andrew Alvarez, and veteran Jake Irvin. Lefty Mitchell Parker underwent an internal brace procedure in late July and will be sidelined well into next summer. The rotation figures to be an area of focus for the Nats again this winter, and some of the positive developments from this year’s group could spur second-year president of baseball ops Paul Toboni to be a bit more aggressive than last time around, when the Nats gave out cheap one-year deals to innings eaters Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell as well as NPB returnee Foster Griffin.