Washington Nationals young starting pitchers are impressing

MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, and Mitchell Parker have all been excellent to start the 2025 season

The Washington Nationals season has been a bumpy ride. They are 9-13, so there have certainly been negatives. The bullpen has been a train wreck and the lineup has been very inconsistent. However, one positive has been the Nationals trio atop their rotation. MacKenzie Gore, Mitchell Parker, and Jake Irvin have all been excellent to start the season.

I will start with Gore because he is the biggest name and has the most upside. After a good but inconsistent 2024, Gore looks ready to take yet another leap. He leads all of baseball in strikeouts with 45 in 29 innings. The southpaw already has multiple 13 strikeout performances this season, including last time out against the Rockies. He got 28 swings and misses in that game, the most of any MLB pitcher this season.

MacKenzie Gore’s entire five pitch mix has been filthy this season. The curveball is the standout, collecting 16 of his strikeouts and generating a 54.2 whiff%. Consistency is the key now for the 26 year old.

Gore has a history of fast starts before tapering off in the summer months. If Gore can be effective in June and July, he could establish himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball. The stuff is there for him, it is all about putting it together. I also have enjoyed the fact that Gore has gone six innings in four of his five starts.

Some advanced metrics suggest Gore could be getting unlucky despite his 3.41 ERA. His FIP sits at an amazing 2.21 so far this season. I think this could be a monster year for the Nationals ace.

Despite Gore’s dominance, the lowest ERA on the staff belongs to Mitchell Parker, who has a 1.85 ERA in four starts. He has not been the strikeout machine Gore has been, with just 16 in 24.1 innings, but he is getting the job done.

Parker has done a great job avoiding barrels and keeping the ball on the ground. His 2.7 barrel% is in the 90th percentile and his 50% ground ball rate is also a very solid number. Parker isn’t as flashy as a Gore, and I doubt his ERA stays below 2 in a larger sample, but he has established himself as a quality starter. The 25 year old southpaw is also going deep into games, going at least six innings in all four of his starts.

Parker is setting the tone with his fastball before mixing in the rest of his four pitch mix. To right handed batters, Parker likes to throw his fastball, splitter and curveball. Meanwhile, lefties get a heavy dose of fastball, slider. This mix allows him to keep guys off balance and succeed without relying heavily on the strikeout.

Early in the season, I was worried about Jake Irvin. His velocity was down and he was giving up a lot of loud contact. I still have some lingering concerns about, as his fastball is down over a tick from last year. However, Irvin has found ways to make it work especially in his last couple starts.

While the Rockies and Pirates aren’t exactly offensive powerhouses, Irvin has diced them up. He has gone into the seventh on both occasions and has struck out 15 while walking just one in those two starts.

Irvin has been relying heavily on his curveball this season. It is actually his most used pitch, with the right hander throwing it 37.4% of the time. The hook has been very good as well, collecting 16 of his 27 strikeouts, with hitters batting just .140 against the pitch. With diminished velocity, his fastball has not been performing as well, with hitters batting .345 with 10 hits and five extra base hits on the heater.

Despite teasing it this spring, Irvin has not brought out his slider yet. Actually, it is the changeup that we are seeing more of this year. It has not been great, but it gives hitters another look. Irvin’s ERA is down to a solid 3.68. He is striking out more batters and walking fewer. The 28 year old has had a bit of a home run problem early, but there is time to fix that. He should be at least a solid four starter for years to come. Hopefully some of that velocity comes back too.

There are reasons to be pessimistic about the Nats. However, the starting pitching, especially the young starters are not among those reasons. MacKenzie Gore, Mitchell Parker and Jake Irvin are all solid starters with bright futures ahead of them. I would love one more heavy hitter to pair with Gore because Gore has the look of a top of the rotation guy, while Parker and Irvin are more of middle rotation starters.

If they add one more big name, the Nationals could have a fearsome rotation for years to come. In the 2010’s, the Nats had formidable rotations year after year. The outline for the Nats next great rotation is here, with MacKenzie Gore leading the way.