Nationals Option Cornelio, Perales to Triple-A Rochester in Latest Camp Cuts

The Washington Nationals optioned right-handed pitchers Riley Cornelio and Luis Perales to Triple-A Rochester as part of their third round of spring cuts announced Sunday, while reassigning five other players to minor-league camp. The moves clarify the organization’s near-term depth chart and push Cornelio off the immediate Opening Day radar even as both arms head to Rochester with developmental priorities.

Riley Cornelio, 25, made two outings this spring totaling five innings and tied with Cade Cavalli for the most strikeouts on the big-league camp roster with seven. Across those five innings he allowed one earned run on three hits and issued zero walks, numbers the reports described as impressive for a pitcher who has come up through the ranks as a starter. The option to Rochester, however, "appears like the Nationals envision more from the 25-year-old than just being a reliever," and the reporting concluded Cornelio is likely out of the running for an Opening Day spot: it could take a little while before fans see Cornelio in the bigs this season barring injury or an immediate run of poor play by someone in the rotation.

Luis Perales enters Rochester later in spring still on the mend from Tommy John surgery, a recovery trajectory the reporting said made it "only a matter of time before Perales was sent to the minors." Perales made his team debut against the New York Mets on March 5, a brief appearance in which he "flashed his electric stuff." The scouting notes described his fastball as back to almost triple digits and his slider as "about as elite as they come," but control issues remain, and the material cautioned that he'll need to hone those if he is going to be a starter in the MLB. The option, observers wrote, will allow him to "get more time to develop with this new staff as he recovers," and the organization may consider a conversion to relief work if command does not improve.

These roster moves tighten Rochester’s immediate role as Washington’s primary depth pool: Cornelio projects as a Triple-A starter the club wants to keep stretched out, while Perales arrives as a high-upside reclamation project who will be monitored by the new pitching staff for command progress. The official announcement did not name the five players reassigned to minor-league camp, and the exact calendar date for the Sunday cuts was not supplied, leaving roster watchers with two clear follow-up items: who filled out the minor-league reassignments and how the Nationals plan to use Cornelio and Perales in Rochester’s rotation and workload plans. For now, Rochester inherits two pitchers who could alter Washington’s depth picture later in the season if Cornelio sustains his strikeout rate or Perales refines his control.