It’s been a tale of two ballclubs for the Nationals to start the season, as on one hand, they have what is currently a top 5 offense in all of baseball, ranking 4th in wRC+ at 117 and 4th in WAR at 3.6, and on the other hand, they have a bottom 2 pitching staff in all of baseball, ranking 2nd to last in ERA at 6.08 and last with a -2.5 fWAR, miles worse than every other ball club. Outside of a strong start to his MLB return for Foster Griffin, there have been very few bright spots in the rotation or bullpen, and recent injuries to Ken Waldichuk and Cole Henry tighten things even more for an already taxed group.
While help to the rotation may be coming in the next few months in the form of top prospect Luis Perales and reliable righty Riley Cornelio, the bullpen could see new additions very soon, as guys at the major league level falter and arms in the minor league flourish. Let’s take a look at 3 Nationals minor league relievers who could make an impact at the big league level in 2026.
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LHP Zach Penrod
The current Nats minor league arm I think it is most likely we see in the big leagues in 2026 is Zach Penrod, a 28-year-old righty currently at Triple A. Penrod has thrown 5 innings for the Red Wings in 2026, and while the results are mediocre currently, with a 9 ERA and .609 opponents slugging percentage, it’s the improvements to Penrod’s arsenal which lead me to believe he could be the best current left hander in the big league bullpen.
Penrod threw his fastball about 40% of the time in 2025, and 5 other breaking ball or offspeed pitches, and the results were terrible, with a 7.83 ERA and 6.80 FIP in 33.1 innings pitched. This year, he’s refined his arsenal, dumping his sinker and curveball and making improvements to his remaining 3 secondary offerings. He’s increased his slider usage from 13% in 2025 to 39% in 2026, with it’s new, sharper movement dropping opponents expected batting average on it from .321 to .240.
His changeup and cutter have seen improvements as well, with the changeups Stuff+ rating going from 81 to 96, and the cutter from 82 to 102, giving Penrod more options to attack hitters with, as long as he’s throwing them for strikes.
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My one area of concern for Penrod currently is that his fastball has lost some spin and movement in 2026, grading out much more poorly according to Stuff+ and currently getting hammered at Triple A, but if he can show he’s found a feel for the pitch again in the next few outings, Penrod could find himself in the Nats big league bullpen, looking to help turn the ship around.
RHP Eddy Yean
Some folks might remember the name Eddy Yean from the Josh Bell trade way back in 2020, where the Nats sent right handed pitchers Wil Crowe and Eddy Yean to Pittsburgh for the slugging first baseman. Well, Yean is now back in the Nationals organization after 5 seasons in the Pirates organization, where he climbed to Triple A before being released in the offseason. Like Penrod, Yean was throwing a lot of pitches in 2025, but only one really good one in his sinker, but in 2026, he’s simplified his arsenal and made improvements to what he does have.
The sinker is the calling card for Yean, and it’s nasty, sitting 97 MPH with almost 17 inches of arm side run, grading out at near the top of the scale 117 Stuff+. He throws the pitch 40% of the time, and while it doesn’t induce much swing and miss, it does miss barrels, with an opponents expected batting average of .147 and expected slugging percentage of .163.
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Yean has a fastball and changeup he throws roughly 23% of the time each, which have performed well so far but don’t grade out well, but the secondary pitch I want to focus on is his slider, which looks much sharper so far in 2026 than it did in 2025. His slider now has less vertical movement and more horizontal movement, raising it’s Stuff+ grade from 89 to 95, and so far it is doing damage against Triple A hitting, with a 66% whiff rate and .054 opponents batting average.
Despite the 5.14 ERA in 7 innings so far, Yean looks to be having a breakout season at Triple A with his swing and miss stuff, while also avoiding hard contact at a very high rate, 2 ingredients to success in the big leagues.
RHP Julian Tonghini
One more under the radar pick for a Nationals minor league reliever who could make their big league debut in 2026 is Julian Tonghini, the Nats 7th round pick out of Arizona last season. Tulian always had the strikeout stuff in college, with a 37% strikeout rate his senior year, but was held back by his shaky command, walking over 10% of batters all 4 years. He still managed a very good 25.2 K-BB% in 2025 with the Wildcats, and cut his walk rate by over 2%, showing if he could just find a little more command, he could be a breakout reliever in pro ball.
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Lucky for the Nats, Tonghini has come out throwing strikes in 2026, as the righty currently has a 5.6% walk rate at High A in 4.2 innings pitched, less than half of what it what in 2025 and in the 79th percentile of all High A pitchers. To go along with his much improved command, Tonghini is also pairing swing and miss stuff with an elite groundball percentage, as he is 66th percentile in whiff rate, 87th percentile in called strike + whiff percentage, and 100th percentile in groundballs rate, keeping it on the ground 91.7% of the time.
Tonghini is only 4.2 innings into his professional career, so I won’t declare him the savior of the Nationals bullpen or anything, but he is also 24 years old and showing legitimate success right now, meaning there is the possibility of him fast tracking his way through the Nationals minor league season. If he can stay at the level he’s at currently, there’s a chance he finds himself in the big league bullpen in the backhalf of 2026.
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