Nationals To Select Jared Simpson

The Nationals are selecting the contract of lefty Jared Simpson, reports Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic. He’ll be the team’s second September call-up, joining previously reported infielder Yohandy Morales in that regard. Washington only has one vacancy on the 40-man roster, so there will need to be at least one corresponding transaction. Simpson was the Nationals’ eighth-round pick (No. 225 overall) back in 2023. Now 26 years old, he’s split the season between Double-A and Triple-A and worked to a combined 58 2/3 innings. In that time, the former Iowa Hawkeye has logged a tiny 2.30 earned run average with an impressive 28.9% strikeout rate and a massive 57.5% ground-ball rate. Simpson’s command is the fly in the ointment; he’s walked 15% of his opponents this season and also plunked two batters and tossed six wild pitches. The 6’4″, 205-pound Simpson has nominally worked both as a starter and reliever this season, though he’s typically functioned as an opener when “starting” a game. He’s made a pair of three-inning starts with the Nationals’ top affiliate in Syracuse over the past couple weeks. Those three-inning appearances mark not only his longest of the 2026 season but the longest of his professional career. Simpson is primarily a bullpen prospect, and that’ll be the role he fills in his first call to the majors. Simpson doesn’t rank among the Nationals’ top prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com or FanGraphs, but he’ll nonetheless be rewarded with his first call to The Show as rosters expand from 26 to 28 players. He’d have been eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft this winter anyhow (if it happens), so the Nats will proactively add him to the roster and take a look down the stretch. Simpson is averaging 94.6 mph on his four-seamer and 94.2 mph on his sinker in Triple-A this year. His primary offspeed pitch is a changeup that has averaged 85.4 mph, but he’s also thrown a slider sitting 83.3 mph about once every ten pitches. View Comments (1)