Nationals recall Ribalta, Rutledge from Rochester amid bullpen injuries

The Nationals turned to Rochester on Monday, and the move read less like a routine shuffle than an emergency stress test of the organization’s pitching depth. With right-handers Cole Henry and Ken Waldichuk landing on the 15-day injured list, Washington recalled Orlando Ribalta and Jackson Rutledge, asking Triple-A’s arms to cover for a bullpen suddenly short on healthy options.

Paul Toboni, Washington’s president of baseball operations, made the announcements as the club tried to steady a staff hit by two more setbacks. Waldichuk left the Nationals’ April 12 win over the Brewers after signaling discomfort in his left elbow, and MLB.com noted he previously had Tommy John surgery in 2024. Henry’s move to the injured list further thinned the relief picture, continuing a pattern that has made every healthy bullpen arm matter more in Washington.

That is what pushed Ribalta and Rutledge back into the majors. Ribalta, 28, is the taller, older and more polished of the two immediate Rochester options, a 6-foot-7, 245-pound right-hander from Santa Clara, Cuba who was Washington’s 12th-round pick in 2019. He already has big-league experience, debuting on Aug. 13, 2024, and his 2026 line at Rochester was the more convincing of the pair’s: 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA, one save, five strikeouts and a 0.69 WHIP in 4.1 innings over five appearances.

Rutledge brings more pedigree and a different kind of intrigue. The 27-year-old, listed at 6-foot-8 and 241 pounds, was Washington’s first-round pick, 17th overall, in 2019 and reached the majors on Sept. 13, 2023. But his Rochester results this season were rougher, with a 5.40 ERA and one strikeout in 5.0 innings over six appearances. For a Nationals staff trying to survive injuries, that is a meaningful gap.

If Washington is hunting for a stopgap, Rutledge’s draft status and size keep the long-term conversation alive. If the question is who has the better case to become more than a temporary patch, Ribalta has the cleaner answer right now. He missed fewer bats, allowed less traffic and gave Rochester a more stable late-inning look before the Red Wings resumed their homestand against Buffalo after Monday’s off day. In a system built to protect the big-league club, that kind of efficiency is suddenly a major-league commodity.