The Washington Nationals announced they have released struggling relief pitcher Trevor Rosenthal Sunday following his latest poor outing when he allowed three earned runs.
Rosenthal, who never found any semblance of good form after joining the Nats, faced three batters in the 7th inning of Saturday night's defeat and walked all three. All three baserunners would score. The Nationals, who held an 8-4 lead when Rosenthal entered the game, would go on to lose 13-9.
"He put the work in. We put the work in. We tried to get him right, and just things didn’t work out," manager
Davey Martinez said Sunday. “So it was time for us to move on.”
In a corresponding roster move, the Nationals recalled pitcher Austin Voth from Double-A Harrisburg.
In six years with the St. Louis Cardinals, Rosenthal pitched to a 2.99 ERA over 328 appearances and notched 121 saves. He carried a strikeout to walk ratio of 3.04. After missing the 2018 season following Tommy John surgery in August 2017, Rosenthal joined the Nationals
on a one-year, $6 million deal, the first big league reliever signed during the offseason.
But Rosenthal, 29, was never able to replicate that elite-level performance, even after a
10-game stint in the minors when he was on 30-day rehab
for a viral infection. In 12 total games for Washington, he managed just 19 outs, allowed eight hits, walked 15 batters and surrendered 16 earned runs. He finishes his Nats career with a 22.74 ERA.
Washington will be on the hook for all of Rosenthal's $6 million salary this year and a $1 million buyout covering a team-option for the 2020 season.
Reporters requested to speak with Nationals GM
Mike Rizzo after Rosenthal was released. He declined to speak through a team spokesman.
Mike Rizzo was requested by reporters today, following the release of Trevor Rosenthal, and the general manager declined to speak through a team spokesman.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse)
June 23, 2019 Signing Trevor Rosenthal was a $7M roll of the dice coming off TJ. The arm was lively when they saw them. Velocity and stuff came back as expected. He just never re-captured his control. You can't succeed in the big leagues if you don't throw strikes.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen)
June 23, 2019 Follow @BenKrimmel and @1067TheFan on Twitter.
