Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Nationals' New Pitching Approach Has Been on Fully Display Early This Spring

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Brad Wakai | Last updated Feb 24, 2026 12:07 PM ET

There has been a lot of talk about how the Washignton Nationals might operate differently under this new baseball operationas regime compared to the previous one. And in just one offseason, there has been some clear answers.

As expected, there is an embrace of technology and analytics. Players like Daylen Lile have been open about their excitement of that implementation, as he believes it will help him take his game to the next level. The Nationals also created a new minor league camp before spring training got underway to work with their young players even earlier in the process.

All of that is a positive for the future, but there is one thing that could help this maligned pitching staff immediately during the 2026 campaign. And that is limiting their fastball usage and getting much more inline with the trends of Major League Baseball.

Nationals Have Reduced Their Fastball Usage Early During Spring Training

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This is something Paul Cubbage of Federal Baseball highlighted early on in the process when Paul Toboni was hired to become the team's new president of baseball operations and Blake Butera was tabbed to be the manager.

Both men came from organizations that have embraced evolving analytics, so the expectation was Washington would adjust and reduce their overall fastball usage after the team was top two in throwing that pitch each of the last four years under previous manager Dave Martinez.

So far, the results have been exactly what Cubbage predicted. The Nationals have been much more multiple when it comes to attacking hitters early on this spring, and that is something to note and follow heading into the upcoming campaign.

"... the Nationals have used 24 different pitchers in Spring Training over the course of 3 games. Of those 24 pitchers, only 5 of them have used their fastball as their primary pitch," he wrote. "Compare this to the 2025 Nats' pitching staff, where of the 25 pitchers to throw at least 10 innings in the big leagues last season, ALL of them threw their fastball as their primary pitch."

Will This Trend Continue Into Regular Season?

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Because it's early during spring training, there is a lot of tinkering going on. That likely means what is on display right now won't necessarily be the norm during the year. But it's still notable that there has been that much emphasis placed on not throwing fastballs as often, thus far.

How the final numbers look in 2026 when it comes to overall fastball usage will also be interesting to see. As Cubbage pointed out, Toboni, Butera and pitching coach Simon Mathews came from teams where they ranked between 10th and 20th in fastball usage. So a sweeping overhaul likely won't take place in their first season.

But it's clear a major change has come to how the Nationals go about pitching under this new regime. And that's the latest example of how this organization is embracing the modern era of baseball.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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