Riley Cornelio limits Phillies in bulk outing

Cornelio served as the opener for the Nationals. He tossed two scoreless innings, stranding one hit and one walk while striking out four batters. Jake Irvin took over the third and gave up three runs across five frames. Cornelio has been effective as the opener over his last two outings, striking out eight over five innings. Irvin’s next start is scheduled to come on Saturday against the Cardinals in St. Louis.

The Nationals announced that Riley Cornelio will open on Sunday, with no mention of Irvin being scratched for any reason, so the expectation is that he’ll function in a bulk role. The 29-year-old right-hander remains a middling streaming option, though his chances of earning a victory improve slightly in a bulk role.

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.

Dion allowed two hits, walked one and struck out one. He threw 37 pitches in what was his first start of the season. Dion had thrown at least 40 pitches in four of his last five outings entering play Monday. A reliever by trade, Dion can throw multiple innings but isn’t stretched out for a typical starter’s workload just yet. He’ll take a 3.38 ERA into his next start against the Dodgers on the road on Sunday.

Coming in for a bulk outing after Matt Waldron fired two scoreless innings, the wheels fell off for Dion in his third inning of work. After tossing two scoreless frames out of the pen with eight swings-and-misses along the way, both Troy Johnston and Cole Carrigg hit two-run homers in the fifth. Johnston’s came off a front-door sinker that the left Dion was bold for trying and missed his spot badly. Carrigg’s was off a fastball at the letters that didn’t even crack 90 mph. At that point, manager Blake Butera had seen enough and pulled Dion. He has good stuff, but will need to sustain a bit more velocity to be effective in a multi-inning role. Luis Perales came in for some bulk work after as well and showed elite stuff – 101 mph fastball, 11 whiffs – but let up four runs in two innings with three walks. It seems like the Nationals are going to deploy their pitchers in unorthodox ways during the final month of the season.

The left-hander struck out one batter in the contest and didn’t allow a base on balls. Dion took over for Brad Lord in the third inning and pitched the Nationals nearly into the sixth, allowing just a double to JJ Bleday and nothing more. He now sports a 3.86 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and a 26/4 K/BB ratio over 23 1/3 innings on the season.

Dion has been an up-and-down arm for the Guardians, but the 26-year-old will likely get an opportunity to be a mainstay with the Nationals to try and help one of the worst bullpens in baseball. That won’t make him fantasy relevant, but National fans would just appreciate some competence in the middle innings.

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.

The Guardians needed to free up a spot in their bullpen for the arrival of Craig Yoho on Sunday and unfortunately for Dion he was the odd man out this time. The 26-year-old southpaw has made 12 appearances with the Guardians this season, posting a 4.58 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and a stellar 25/3 K/BB ratio over 19 2/3 innings. He should get another opportunity with the big league club before the summer is through.