The Nationals had a lot of weaknesses in 2025, but none were worse than the bullpen. They had the worst bullpen ERA in baseball at 5.59, and it was not even close. There were actually a couple of points where the unit looked alright, but as a whole, it was a dumpster fire. Major changes will be needed to make this even an average bullpen.
So how will Paul Toboni rebuild this bullpen? We are going to find out soon, but let’s start with some guys who will likely return. For my money, Jose A. Ferrer, Clayton Beeter, Cole Henry and PJ Poulin are likely to be back in the Nats bullpen. Beyond that, there are a ton of open spots and uncertainty. Brad Lord will be in the bullpen if he is not in the rotation as well.
However, those are the only guys who really proved themselves in 2025. Among those guys, Ferrer is the crown jewel. Despite a 4.48 ERA, Ferrer has high end stuff and got unlucky. With better infield defense around him, the ground ball heavy lefty could see his ERA nose dive.
Even with those guys, the Nats need a lot of new arms. Before getting into a couple free agents, I wanted to take a look at a lesser discussed avenue for talent in the Rule 5 draft. Every year, there are productive relief pitchers exposed to the draft, but the Nats have been unable to find them. Evan Reifert and Thad Ward were misses over the past couple of years.
However, the Red Sox have found some gems in the Rule 5 draft the past few years while Toboni was with them. Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock are two productive relief arms the Red Sox have found in the Rule 5 draft. Here is a list of names that will need to be protected for this year’s Rule 5 draft.
With that out of the way, let’s get to the fun part, exploring free agency. We have talked about a few names already, and submariner Tyler Rogers is a name I keep coming back to. However, there are a couple more names that have recently hit the free agent market that intrigue me.
The first one is Pete Fairbanks of the Rays. The frugal Rays declined Fairbanks’ $11 million team option despite his strong results. He has been the Rays closer for a few years now and he has been one of the better ones in the sport. Last season, Fairbanks saved 27 games while posting a sub-3 ERA.
He is your typical flame throwing closer. His fastball averages over 97 MPH and he pairs that with a wipeout slider. Over the past couple of years, he has become more of a pitch to contact guy, but he has still gotten good results.
His slider is one of the best pitches in the sport. Over the last three seasons, batters have hit .178, .158 and .173 against Fairbanks’ slider. Talk about an elite pitch. If he came to DC, Fairbanks would immediately become the closer. He also would not cost a fortune. My guess is that he would sign a 2 or 3 year deal around $10 million per year.
The next guy I want to talk about is much more under the radar. After struggling for a few years in Colorado, Tyler Kinley immediately became a much better pitcher after escaping Coors Field. Kinley posted a 0.72 ERA in 24 appearances with the Braves after a midseason trade.
Kinley’s success after leaving Colorado makes a ton of sense. His primary pitch is his slider, which was neutered by the Denver altitude. He threw the slider 64% of the time in 2025. Once he got to Atlanta, he threw the pitch over 70% of the time.
Despite the success, the Braves did not pick up his $5.5 million team option, making him a free agent. At 34, Kinley will probably get a cheap one-year deal, which I think the Nats should be all over. It would be a much better bet than the likes of Lucas Sims and Jorge Lopez.
We saw the Braves take a struggling spin heavy pitcher out of Coors and make him a productive reliever for multiple seasons. Ironically, Pierce Johnson, who I was referring to, is also a free agent. Johnson posted a 2.91 ERA in 147 outings for the Braves. Kinley is another Coors refugee who I think could have a nice career revival.
There are plenty of relief names on the market. We broke down a few other options a couple weeks ago. There is no shortage of choices, but Paul Toboni needs to get it right. We saw what happens when you pick the wrong free agent relievers last season. It can derail a season very quickly.
Mike Rizzo was good at building bullpens midseason, but he often had to clean up his own mess. Hopefully Paul Toboni can nail these additions in the offseason. There are a few solid bullpen arms in house already. With a few shrewd pickups, the Nats bullpen can be respectable again in 2026.