Add Washington to the list of teams that has taken a shot on Matt Waldron this summer. The Nationals claimed the 29-year-old right-hander off waivers from the Blue Jays, marking his second team change via the waiver wire in under a month.
The path here has been a whirlwind. Waldron spent parts of three seasons in San Diego establishing himself as one of the only knuckleball pitchers left in the majors, then got designated for assignment by the Padres in late July. Toronto scooped him up a week later, only to DFA him themselves after four appearances that saw his ERA balloon to 10.38 with the Jays. Now he's on his third organization since the trade deadline period began.
The knuckleball is what makes Waldron worth the roster spot in the first place. In 2024, his first full season with the Padres, he threw the pitch 38% of the time — the highest knuckleball usage rate by any MLB pitcher since 2018. It's a novelty act in a league that's basically phased the pitch out entirely, and it's why front offices keep taking flyers on him even after rough stretches.
For the Nationals, this is a low-cost, high-upside add. Washington isn't chasing a playoff spot, so there's little downside to auditioning a guy with a genuinely unique arsenal over the final five weeks. Waldron figures to slot into a swingman role, bouncing between long relief and spot starts as Washington evaluates what it has heading into next season.
It's also a fascinating reminder of how thin the margins are for a pitcher throwing something as unconventional as the knuckler. Waldron can look nearly unhittable when the pitch is dancing, and get rocked when it isn't — Toronto found that out in a hurry. Whether Washington gets the good version or the bad version will say a lot about whether the knuckleball experiment has any life left in it beyond a curiosity.