Washington Nationals Top Prospect Reveals New Role During Spring Training

Cole Henry’s goal of making his Major League debut with the Washington Nationals this season will have to come in a new role, according to the Washington Post.

Henry, a 25-year-old pitcher from Florence, Ala., told the Post that he will be working in spring training trying to make the team as a long reliever.

It will be a change from how he’s been worked since he joined Washington in 2020. Of his 42 minor league games, 34 of them were starts, which was his role during his college days at LSU.

A role as a starter isn’t in the cards for Henry right now. The Nationals worked to ensure they had maximum starting depth during the offseason. Along with young starters like MacKenzie Gore and DJ Herz, they also signed Michael Soroka and Shinnosuke Ogasawara and re-signed Trevor Williams, who was part of the rotation last year.

But there is room in the bullpen. While the Nationals have a significant number of relievers on the 40-man roster, only five are listed on the team’s MLB.com depth chart — Derek Law, Jose A. Ferrer, Eduardo Salazar, Jorge Lopez and Evan Reifert.

An impressive spring by Henry might bring him one step closer to reaching the Majors. Putting him in a relief role, he said, may allow him to avoid the injuries that have been a big part of his professional career.

Last season Henry started the campaign at Double-A Harrisburg but ended up on the 7-day injured list in May and transferred to the 60-day injured list shortly afterward with a lat strain. He returned in July and pitched out the rest of the season.

He went 0-1 with a 3.31 ERA in eight games (five starts) with 37 strikeouts and 16 walks in 33.1 innings.

Henry pitched in the minor leagues for four seasons, as he compiled a 4-9 record with a 3.30 ERA in 42 games (34 starts), with 158 strikeouts and 53 walks in 128.1 innings. Injuries slowed down some of his development. He missed three months in 2021, three more months in 2022 and the first three months of the 2023 season.

The Nationals selected Henry in the second round of the 2020 MLB draft out of LSU. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled most of the college season, he went 2-1 and a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings with six walks and 23 strikeouts.

In 2019 he was the Tigers’ top weekend starter and went 4-2 in 14 games (11 starts) with a 3.39 ERA in 58.1 innings with 72 strikeouts and 18 walks.

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