Riley Cornelio rejoins Nationals bullpen

Cornelio opened Tuesday’s contest against the Padres with three perfect frames on 36 pitches. He tossed 24 for strikes and collected four strikeouts before he was relieved on the mound in the fourth. The 26-year-old right-hander will likely revert to a long relief role out of the bullpen.

Cornelio has a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings out of the bullpen for the Nationals this season. He will serve in a multi-inning relief role.

Cornelio is sent down to make room for Yovanny Cruz after Cruz was acquired in a five-player trade. Cornelio will likely be back before 2026 comes to an end.

Conelio earns a ticket back to the minors after throwing 73 pitches over 4 1/3 innings in relief during Friday’s blowout loss to the Mariners. The 26-year-old rookie boasts an underwhelming 6.48 ERA across 8 1/3 innings over three appearances this season.

He’ll take the place of Cole Henry on the club’s active roster. It remains to be seen how the Nationals plan to utilize Cornelio this time around. After being used almost exclusively as a starter in the minors, he was used in a bulk role out of the bullpen the last time he was recalled by the Nats. The 26-year-old holds a 4.87 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and a 64/26 K/BB ratio across 44 1/3 innings in 11 appearances (nine starts) at the Triple-A level this season.

Cornelio made his big league debut out of the bullpen on Friday night, giving up three runs (two earned) on three hits and four walks over two innings against the White Sox. It is believed that it’s not directly related to his performance in Friday’s game and that Cornelio would’ve been optioned back to Triple-A regardless of how he performed. Now he’ll bide his time and wait for another opportunity with the big league club.

It remains unclear how much Cornelio will pitch or in what role tonight as the Nationals take on the White Sox, but it appears that at the very least he’s going to be working in a bulk role. Cornelio was Washington’s 2025 Minor League pitcher of the year and could get some runway if the early returns go well with the Nationals. The role uncertainty makes it hard to stream him today, but he could be a stash candidate in deeper leagues.

The 25-year-old hurler has been dominant through his first four starts at Triple-A Rochester this season, posting a 2.45 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and a 27/8 K/BB ratio over 18 1/3 innings. He’s set to make his MLB debut on Friday against the White Sox in Chicago. Miles Mikolas had been scheduled to start on Friday, it’s unclear if he’s being pushed back or is being shifted to a long relief role. Cornelio makes for a strong streaming option in deeper mixed leagues for Friday’s debut.

We’re now starting to see slightly larger batches of cuts around the league as teams start to trim down their rosters in advance of Opening Day. Cornelio, 25, looked sharp in his two Grapefruit League appearances, posting a 1.80 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and a 7/0 K/BB ratio across five innings of work. He should get an opportunity to debut with the Nationals at some point during the 2026 campaign.

Bennett returned from Tommy John to post a 2.27 ERA in 18 starts and one relief appearance in the minors last season, and he was also one of the best pitchers in the AFL, finishing with a 4.50 ERA and a 25/5 K/BB in 20 innings. He might debut in the second half of next season. Franklin, who was acquired from the Cubs for Michael Soroka at the deadline, was also a pretty easy call here. Cornelio is more of a surprise, as neither his stuff nor command seems major league quality, but the Nationals have a lack of starting pitching depth and plenty of flexibility when it came to the 40-man roster. He might get a chance to compete for a spot in spring training.