Nationals Will Get Major Boost Once This Star Reliever Returns

Coming into the season, the Washington Nationals tried to make some tweaks to their bullpen after a showing in 2024 where that unit finished 21st in Major League Baseball with a 4.14 ERA.

Their decision to trade Robert Garcia was an interesting one, but since they got back Nathaniel Lowe to solve their first base issues, that looked like a swap that would work out for them.

Unfortunately, the other arms the Nationals added this past winter to reshape the relief staff turned out to be a disaster, with Colin Poche and Lucas Sims getting designated for assignment and released based on how poor they were to begin the year.

Washington has not stopped tinkering since they still own the second-worst bullpen ERA in the MLB despite that unit playing better as of late.

Jorge Lopez was also designated for assignment, so the organization will be relying on some younger arms to be impact pitchers for them.

One thing that is going to solve a lot of the problems is when Derek Law returns.

Entering the year, the right-hander had a lofty goal for himself. But an issue in spring training popped up that caused the Nationals to place him on the injured list, a place he has resided for the entire campaign to this point.

Washington misses the veteran.

Last season, he had a 2.60 ERA across his 71 appearances, finishing with an ERA+ that was 55 points above the league average to put an exclamation mark on the best season of his career.

Getting him back is crucial, and the latest injury update suggests that the rehab to work his way back from having inflammation in his right forearm is going well.

While he's not projected to be back until July, the team's injury page said that he has now worked his way up to throwing a bullpen session of 35 pitches, a major step in the right direction.

Even if it does take him another month until he's cleared to return, this is at least a positive sign that there has been no setbacks and he's on his way to coming back at some point in the near future.

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