Some guys have a rough week. Matt Krook has had a rough July that feels like an entire career arc crammed into 3 weeks. The journeyman right-hander was designated for assignment by the Nationals on July 27, and if that headline sounds familiar, it's because you already read it once this month.
MLB Trade Rumors confirmed the Nationals cut ties with Krook for the second time in July.
The backstory here is genuinely chaotic. Washington claimed Krook off waivers from the Athletics on July 4. He made 3 appearances, got hit around for 2 earned runs in 2 2/3 innings, and got DFA'd almost immediately. He cleared waivers, had the choice to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Rochester, and instead elected free agency. Most guys in that spot disappear into org-filler purgatory somewhere else. Krook didn't. Within days, the Nationals brought him right back on another big league deal.
For a minute it looked like a redemption story. In his second stint back in D.C., Krook strung together 2 scoreless outings before it all came apart in a ninth-inning appearance where he walked 3 straight batters and got yanked with the bases loaded and nobody out. That's the kind of inning that ends a stint fast, and it did. Righty Paxton Schultz got the call up from Rochester to take his spot on the active roster.
The cruel part for Krook is that this time there's no minor league safety net. He's out of options, which means Washington can't just tuck him back in Rochester and see if the third stint's the charm. He either gets claimed by another club, clears waivers and becomes a free agent again, or the carousel just keeps spinning somewhere else.
Krook was a former 1st-round pick out of high school by the Marlins back in 2013 (he didn't sign, went to Oregon instead) and a 4th-rounder by the Giants in 2016, so there was always pedigree here. It just hasn't translated at the top level -- across 4 MLB seasons he's thrown all of 16 2/3 innings with a 13.50 ERA. For a Nationals bullpen that's been picking through waiver claims and org depth all year looking for anything that sticks, this is just the latest arm that didn't.