What will the Washington Nationals do with their bullpen?

The Nationals bullpen was a major problem in 2025 and the issue is even bigger now that Paul Toboni traded away the team’s most promising reliever Jose A. Ferrer. If Harry Ford becomes a quality starting catcher, the trade will be worth it. However, losing Ferrer makes the Nats bullpen even more of a question mark.

Last season, the Nats had the worst bullpen in all of baseball, with the unit posting a 5.59 ERA. Now that Kyle Finnegan is in Detroit and Jose A. Ferrer is in Seattle, the Nats are without the two most reliable members of last year’s bullpen. That means Paul Toboni is going to have to largely rebuild this unit from scratch.

Building bullpen’s, at least in the offseason, was never one of Mike Rizzo’s strengths but with Toboni in the door hopefully better bullpens are built. A bullpen is one of those units that you can build on the cheap if you know what you are doing. Teams like the Guardians and the Rays have mastered the art of building cheap bullpen’s.

Toboni came from the Red Sox, who actually had the second best bullpen ERA last year. Outside of Aroldis Chapman, that unit was mostly made up of unheralded guys. Garrett Whitlock, who was the team’s second best reliever came via the Rule 5 Draft. Greg Weissert was a secondary piece in the Alex Verdugo trade and Justin Wilson was a 37 year old who posted an ERA well above 5 the previous season.

Those three guys were the bridge to Aroldis Chapman for the Red Sox. Hopefully Toboni can help bring those kinds of hidden gems to DC. He can actually start that process today in the Rule 5 Draft. The Red Sox have been good at finding bullpen talent in the Rule 5 Draft in recent years. Both Whitlock and Justin Slaten have been quality relievers for them in the last few years.

There are a few relief arms I would like to see Toboni take in the Rule 5 Draft. The one I like the most is Zach McCambley. He was left unprotected by the Marlins, but has proven himself at the AAA level and can slide right into the bullpen. His fastball is not overwhelming, averaging just over 94 MPH, but he can really spin the ball. McCambley’s breaking balls make him a great target for the Nats.

We went over some other Rule 5 candidates in detail, including a couple more relievers. With all the holes in the bullpen, I think it is almost inevitable that the Nats select some sort of reliever today. The Rule 5 pick will not be a high leverage guy in all likelihood, but given the situation, whoever they pick will likely play a pretty big role.

Toboni can also go down the free agent route, which he will likely have to do. I do not think he is going to make some massive splash, but Toboni will likely bring in a couple arms. On the pricier end, Pete Fairbanks or Tyler Rogers would be fun. There are plenty of options still available on the market though.

Internally, the Nats have a few guys who should slot into their bullpen already. Clayton Beeter, PJ Poulin and Cole Henry all showed promise last year and will likely be on the team in 2026. Jackson Rutledge, Orlando Ribalta and Konnor Pilkington had their struggles, but are still on the roster and showed some flashes.

The Nats 2026 bullpen will not be star studded, but hopefully it is more effective than last year. After all, it is tough for the unit to get a whole lot worse. With new coaching, hopefully the unit can punch above its weight. Every year we see previously anonymous relievers around the league break out. Hopefully that can happen for a few of these Nats bullpen arms.