The Nationals have signed right-hander Luke Farrell to a minor league deal, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Rochester for now but might show up in major league camp.
Farrell, 33 in June, spent last year in the White Sox’ system after signing a minor league deal. He tossed 55 innings over 37 appearances, including seven starts, for Triple-A Charlotte. He posted an earned run average of 5.56 in that time, along with a 20.1% strikeout rate, 10.4% walk rate and 39.7% ground ball rate.
Though he didn’t make it to the big leagues last year, he does have prior major league experience. From 2017 to 2022, he suited up for the Royals, Reds, Cubs, Rangers and Twins, with an even ERA of 5.00 in 102 2/3 innings. His 23.3% strikeout rate in that time was around league average but he paired it with an 11.7% walk rate.
The Nats are set to go into 2024 with one of the weaker pitching staffs in the league. Young pitchers like Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin should continue to get looks in the rotation but the three of them each have career ERAs roughly midway between 4.00 and 5.00 thus far. Patrick Corbin has one year left on his deal but his ERA has been above 5.00 in three straight years now. Trevor Williams is halfway through a two-year deal but posted a 5.55 ERA last year. There are a few solid arms in the bullpen but the rebuilding club will be tempted to trade any reliever throwing well this summer.
Farrell has worked both as a starter and a reliever in his career and did both last year. There’s a decent chance of the Nats needing to cover some innings throughout a long season one way or another and he may get tapped on the shoulder at some point. If he does get added to the roster, he’s out of options and would need to be removed from the 40-man if the club wants to take him off the active roster.