WASHINGTON -- For the third straight day, the Nationals made some pregame roster moves, activating right-hander Mason Thompson from the 60-day injured list and optioning righty Zach Brzykcy to Triple-A Rochester before their 10-3 loss to the Red Sox at Nationals Park.
To make room for Thompson on the 40-man roster, Derek Law (right forearm inflammation) was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Washington wants Brzykcy to work on slowing down the game himself. The right-hander has a tendency to over-correct and work quicker once he falls behind in the count, which is less than ideal.
“I think Brzykcy’s stuff plays up here, I really do,” manager Dave Martinez said. “It’s all about throwing strikes, as we always talk about, getting ahead. Let him go down and just settle down a little bit.
“I noticed yesterday that once he fell behind, everything sped up on him. So we just want him to go down and slow things down. … We really believe he’s still going to be able to help us, we just want him to go down and relax, find himself again and then we’ll see what happens.”
Thompson had been out of commission since February 2024, when he underwent his second Tommy John surgery. He last pitched in the Majors in 2023, appearing in 51 games while pitching a 5.50 ERA over 54 innings with 44 strikeouts.
Over the past year and a half, Thompson has spent much of the time in Florida rehabbing and building up his stamina before he began the rehab assignment process. The last obstacle for him to overcome was making back-to-back outings with Rochester, which he did on Wednesday (one scoreless inning) and Thursday (1/3 of an inning).
“Mason’s been down there pitching, pitching every other day, getting himself ready,” Martinez said. “He’s been throwing the ball really well.”
“It’s a lot of excitement, for sure,” Thompson said. “Just happy to be around the guys and feel like a Major League baseball player again.”
While rehabbing, Thompson worked on getting his changeup back into his arsenal. It was a pitch he utilized a lot as a starter in the Minors early in his career, prior to his acquisition by the Nats at the 2021 Trade Deadline.
But for Thompson, being back in the big leagues means much more than just a clean bill of health and a stamp of approval on his rehab work.
Thompson’s grandfather passed away in the past year, while he was still working his way back to the Majors. His grandfather is who helped instill that love of baseball in the right-hander, and would often give him suggestions (or critiques) after his outings.
“Last time I pitched in the big leagues, my grandfather was still with us, and this time around he’s not, so a lot of emotions for sure,” Thompson said. “... He meant as much as a grandfather could mean to you. And he was a huge baseball fan. He grew up in Missouri [so] he was a Cardinals fan, which -- we’re going to St. Louis [next] so that’s pretty cool.
“He’d call me and text me constantly, ask me how I was doing, tell me, ‘Hey, [you] should have got the ball down to so-and-so,’ or that I should have thrown a slider in this situation. It’s unfortunate, [but] … I’m carrying him with me everywhere I go and I know he’s looking down on me.”