November 15, 2023
Washington Nationals pitcher
Tanner Rainey has avoided arbitration and signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract for the 2024 season. The right-hander made just a single relief appearance for the Nats in the 2023 campaign in his return from Tommy John surgery. He rebounded from a ghastly 7.39 ERA across 38 outings in the 2021 season to toss a 3.30 ERA across 29 appearances in the 2022 season before undergoing the UCL procedure on his right below. A veteran of 148 MLB appearances, the 30-year-old owns a career 5.40 ERA. However, he also sports a superior 4.10 SIERA while he has notched an ERA of 3.91 or better in three of his last four seasons. He should be featured often in the Nationals' bullpen in 2024.
--Brenton KempSource: Andrew Golden
March 28, 2023
Washington Nationals relief pitchers
Sean Doolittle (elbow) and
Tanner Rainey (elbow) will return to Florida to continue their respective elbow rehabs after the 2023 regular season begins. Doolittle is a little further along than Rainey, who is still recovering from Tommy John surgery. "He's building up strength, he's throwing," manager Dave Martinez said of Doolittle. "Actually he's throwing the ball really well. So hopefully we get him back soon. He's gonna go back and I think pretty soon he'll be throwing off the mound. But he's throwing the ball well. So I wanted him here. He's been through this before. He's gonna go to the (Homecoming) Gala with us. And I told him to stick around for Opening Day him and Rainey both. So they're going to be around for Opening Day and then they're going to take off and go back to Florida."
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MASN Sports - Bobby Blanco
August 3, 2022
Washington Nationals relief pitcher
Tanner Rainey (elbow) underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday. We already knew there was a pretty good chance that Rainey would miss the rest of the season with a UCL injury to his right elbow, but now it's official after the surgery. The 29-year-old will now miss the majority of the 2023 season as well as he recovers from elbow reconstruction. Rainey was solid for the Nats in 29 relief appearances in 2022 before his injury, posting a 3.30 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 12 saves and 36 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched.
Kyle Finnegan is now the team's primary closer, but he's a low-end fantasy closing option on the worst team in baseball, especially after they just traded away superstar outfielder
Juan Soto and first baseman
Josh Bell on Tuesday.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Jessica Camerato
July 13, 2022
The Washington Nationals have placed relief pitcher
Tanner Rainey (elbow) on the 60-day injured list due to a UCL sprain. This news comes as quite a surprise as there hadn't been any previous indication that Rainey was dealing with an ailment and now he's slated to miss the majority of the second half of the season, if not all of it. UCL injuries often lead to Tommy John surgery. There hasn't been any report of an intended surgery for Rainey yet, but we should have an update on the prospects of that soon. The 29-year-old had been serving as the team's primary closer this year, converting 12-of-16 save chances.
Kyle Finnegan and
Carl Edwards Jr. have been the team's most reliable setup men this year, so one of them is likely to be the top candidate for saves going forward. Edwards is 0-for-1 on save opportunities this year while Finnegan is just 1-for-4. Fantasy managers may be best off taking a wait-and-see approach before adding a speculative saves source for the 30-59 Nationals.
--Andrew Ericksen - RotoBallerSource: Jesse Dougherty
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