Nationals Option Gray, Fernández, Hassell III to Triple-A Rochester

Washington trimmed its roster down to Opening Day shape Thursday, optioning starter Josiah Gray, outfielder Robert Hassell III and reliever Julian Fernández to Triple-A Rochester while reassigning left-hander Zach Penrod to minor league camp.

Gray is the headliner of the three moves, and his path to Rochester is the most carefully constructed. The 28-year-old was an All-Star in 2023, making 30 starts with a 3.91 ERA, before getting hit hard over two starts the following season and undergoing UCL surgery in July 2024. He missed all of last year rehabbing, then made a trio of abbreviated starts in the minors before the offseason just to get competitive innings in. This spring, he took the ball twice in Grapefruit League action and pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which is an encouraging early signal from a pitcher who hasn't thrown a big-league inning in nearly two years. The Nationals opted to manage his workload carefully rather than push him into a rotation spot out of spring training, and the plan is to continue his controlled buildup as a depth starter at Triple-A Rochester with a callup to the major league rotation expected later in the season.

The rotation implications are significant. Gray's demotion slots Jake Irvin into Washington's fifth starter role, with Cade Cavalli set to take the ball on Opening Day against Matthew Boyd and the Cubs. Miles Mikolas, Foster Griffin and Zack Littell, all signed to one-year deals this offseason, are expected to fill out the rest of the rotation. Irvin, who led the team with 180 innings last season while posting a brutal 5.70 ERA and striking out fewer than 16 percent of opponents, has actually been sharp this spring: two runs allowed, 15 strikeouts across 13 1/3 innings, with an expanded pitch mix leaning more on cutters and sliders after relying almost exclusively on his fastball and curveball a year ago.

Hassell presents a different kind of roster puzzle. The former top-10 pick who arrived from San Diego in the Juan Soto trade posted a .223/.257/.315 line over his first 70 major league games last season, numbers that reflect a hitter who hasn't yet translated his prospect pedigree to the big-league level. This spring made the decision easy: nine strikeouts and just one walk in 29 plate appearances left little room for debate. The saving grace is that Hassell posted a .310/.383/.456 line across 76 games at Triple-A last year, so the offensive ability is documented. The Red Wings assignment gives him a place to rebuild that approach against quality pitching without burning through big-league at-bats.

Fernández, listed as a right-handed reliever on the official club transaction, rounds out the three options. No spring statistics were available for him in the roster announcement.

Mitchell Parker, Andrew Alvarez and Jake Eder are also on the 40-man roster but will begin the year in the minors, making this a broader organizational reset headed into the regular season rather than three isolated decisions.