The Nationals announced that right-hander Josiah Gray has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Outfielder Andrew Pinckney was optioned to Triple-A Rochester yesterday, which opened an active roster spot. In a corresponding 40-man move, the Nats have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Wyatt Mills.

The move is not significant for Washington’s 2026 season but it’s an incredible step regardless. The Nats are 71-82 and playing out the string on a losing season but getting Gray back on the mound is a nice symbolic and emotional victory, as he has spent almost three full seasons in the wilderness. Once he gets into a game, he will be making his first appearance April of 2024.

Acquired from the Dodgers in the trade which sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles, Gray once seemed like a rotation building block in Washington. He made 28 starts for the Nats in 2022, though with an unimpressive 5.02 earned run average. He took a step forward in 2023, posting a 3.91 ERA over 30 starts.

Ideally, Gray would have taken another step forward from there. Despite the strong ERA, his underlying numbers were actually not great that year. His 20.5% strikeout rate, 11.5% walk rate and 37.8% ground ball rate were all a bit worse than league average. A high strand rate of 80.4% helped keep the ERA down while his 4.93 FIP and 5.08 SIERA painted a less optimistic portrait.

But instead of finding a new gear, Gray was thrown off course. He made just two starts in 2024 before landing on the injured list and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery that July. That wiped out the remainder of his 2024. By late 2025, he made some rehab appearances in the minors but didn’t get back to the big league squad.

That seemingly set him up to for a healthy 2026 but that hasn’t come to pass. The club optioned him to the minors March 19 but had to rescind that option when Gray was diagnosed with a flexor strain. Instead of going to Triple-A, he went straight onto the major league 60-day IL. That strain kept him on the shelf until today. He started a minor league rehab assignment in August. He surpassed five years of service time while on the IL this year and can no longer be optioned without his consent.

Gray has been pitching as a reliever on that rehab assignment, with none of his outings lasting longer than two innings. He will join the Washington bullpen for a few appearances before the year is out. As mentioned, it’s not a big deal for the current club’s results but it has to be a great feeling for Gray and the team to get him back out there after so much missed time.

This is the second of three arbitration years for Gray. He made $1.35MM last year and is making the same mark this season. Arb-eligible players who miss an entire season generally get the same salary the following year, so the Nats could re-up with Gray around that same number for 2026. If he is tendered a contract for 2027, he wouldn’t be optionable. Taking on a full starter’s workload after so much missed time might also be a stretch, so perhaps a bullpen role could be a target.

What he can provide next year is anyone’s guess at this point. As mentioned, he had a good ERA in 2023 but with underwhelming numbers otherwise. In this year’s rehab games, he has thrown 12 innings with four earned runs allowed and eight strikeouts. His fastball has been averaging 91.3 miles per hour in his Triple-A games, down a couple of ticks from his previous big league work. He was at 94.4 mph in 2022 and then 93.5 in 2023.

As for Mills, he landed on the minor league injured list August 21, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers. A trade isn’t allowed right now since the deadline has passed. Since the Nats wanted to give his roster spot to Gray, they have released Mills. In these instances, the player will sometimes re-sign with the club on a minor league deal. However, Mills doesn’t have a long relationship with the Nats, since they just claimed him off waivers last month.

The 31-year-old righty has 48 1/3 innings in his career with a 6.14 ERA, 18.4% strikeout rate, 12.7% walk rate and 44.2% ground ball rate. He has generally been more impressive in the minors. This year, he has logged 37 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 2.41 ERA, 33.1% strikeout rate, 11.5% walk rate and 42.7% ground ball rate.

He started this year with the Dodgers on a minor league deal. He was added to that club’s roster in May and served as an up-and-down arm for a while. He was designated for assignment in August, claimed by the Nats and sent to Rochester but hasn’t pitched since that claim.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images