Brad Lord has been a do it all arm for the Washington Nationals

Brad Lord has been doing everything the Nationals need him to do, and doing it at a high level

As the Nationals have been doing all season, they thrust 25 year old right hander Brad Lord in to a new situation. This time he was the set-up man tasked with protecting a 1-0 lead. As he has done for most of the season, Lord got the job done.

Heading into the season, Brad Lord was a feel good story. While he worked at Home Depot during the winter, Lord was climbing up the Minor League latter with his strong performances. Over 25 starts in 2024, Lord put up a 2.43 ERA in 129.2 innings. He was one of the most impressive pitchers in the organization.

After that breakthrough year, Lord continued to shine during Spring Training. He earned a roster spot after his strong performances in the spring. Lord was tasked with being the long man on the team. Just as he was settling in as a big league reliever, Lord has to be inserted into the rotation following an injury to Michael Soroka.

Lord was not built up and was just adjusting to his new role as a bullpen arm. However, he went out and did his thing as a starter. He made six starts and gave the Nats quality innings. Lord was far from perfect, with a 4.44 ERA in those six starts, but he kept the Nats in ballgames. One highlight was when he struck out Shohei Ohtani to get his first big league punch out. Going from clocking in at Home Depot to striking out Shohei must have been jarring.

Just as Lord was settling in as a starter and regaining his stamina, Soroka came back. This forced Lord back into the bullpen. Often times when young pitchers are yanked back and forth between roles, they struggle.

This happened with Lord, but only briefly. In his first four games back in the bullpen, Lord allowed five runs in 5.2 innings. He did not look very comfortable in the pen and it led many to question if he should go back in the rotation.

However, after readjusting to his new role, Lord has taken off. He has not allowed a run in his last six outings, and is being trusted in more and more high leverage spots. With that, we are starting to see Lord’s role changed again.

For a while, Lord was mostly a long reliever, who would soak up innings if a starter, often Trevor Williams could not go deep into a game. However, he is starting to be used in shorter bursts as a late inning option. He has only thrown one inning in three of his last four outings, and they have been in higher leverage spots.

That came to a head last night when Davey Martinez trusted Lord to be the set up man to Kyle Finnegan in the 8th inning of a one run game. The idea of that happening even a month ago would be crazy, but Davey made the move and it worked. Lord worked around a two out walk and put a zero on the board.

In 19 outings and six starts as an unheralded rookie, Lord now has a 4.04 ERA in 42.1 innings. That is solid, but it seems like there is even more to come. In his last seven games, Lord has a 0.96 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 9.1 innings.

I still think there could be more to come for Lord. Right now he is a very fastball reliant pitcher, throwing either a four-seamer or sinker 71% of the time. His fastball is a very real weapon, but if he could find a more reliable breaking ball, he could get to another level. With his low arm slot, I feel like a sweeper could do wonders for him.

A lot of guys with similar deliveries have had success with a sweeper. One guy that comes to mind is Michael King. Both were unheralded in the draft. King was a 12th round pick, while Lord was a 18th rounder. They are both lower slot arms with fastballs that move like crazy. Both have also been back and forth between the rotation and bullpen.

When Michael King added his sweeper in the 2021/22 range, his game went to the next level. King is now one of the better pitchers in the league in San Diego and could get a big pay day. I am not saying Lord will get to that level, but if he adds a good breaking ball to his mix, it could be in the cards.

Right now, Lord has turned into one of the Nationals better bullpen options. He is getting better every time he takes the mound and it is abundantly clear that he belongs. Lord is no longer just that guy who worked at Home Depot, he is now an integral part of this Nats squad.