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Rainey

Rainey will get a chance to help the Pittsburgh relief group, but he has struggled in Triple-A with a 6.00 ERA over nine innings. He’ll likely work in the middle innings while with the Bucs.

No real surprises here as the Pirates announced earlier on Monday that Carmen Mlodzinski would break camp as the club’s fifth starter over Harrington. The 23-year-old top pitching prospect figures to break into the majors at some point later this year.

Rainey was non-tendered last month by the Nationals after compiling a pedestrian 4.76 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 44/29 K/BB ratio across 51 innings (50 appearances) last year. It’s worth noting that he was much better down the home stretch, so the Pirates are going to roll the dice on the 31-year-old righty and give him a chance to compete in spring training for a spot in their season-opening bullpen.

Rainey was non-tendered by the Nationals last month even though he posted a 2.48 ERA in his final 29 appearances of the season. Overall, he had a 4.76 ERA over 51 innings in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. He’ll stand a decent chance of winning a spot in Pittsburgh’s pen.

With his velocity well down after Tommy John surgery, Rainey scarcely resembled a major leaguer at the beginning of last season. The velocity, though, did begin to get better, and he wound up with a 2.48 ERA in his final 29 appearances, albeit with pretty middling peripherals. He would have gotten only a modest raise from last year’s $1.5 million salary in arbitration, but the Nats have decided to look elsewhere for now.

He also hit a batter. Rainey’s velocity has been a big issue all spring — he’s been down about 4-5 mph from where he was pre-Tommy John — and he might have been trying to do too much to make up for it today. Rainey is out of options, but one imagines he’ll clear waivers if the Nationals try to send him down.

No word on the financial terms yet. Rainey figures to be ready for spring training coming off last year’s Tommy John surgery. The 30-year-old righty should factor into Washington’s high-leverage relief mix in 2024.

Rainey, coming off last year’s Tommy John surgery, will make his return to the Nationals for the final weekend of the season. Hopefully he’ll get some peace of mind going into the winter in preparation for a normal spring training.

There’s a bit of lingering uncertainty whether Rainey will pitch for the Nationals before the regular season wraps up as he completes his lengthy rehabilitation from last year’s Tommy John surgery. The positive news is that he’s healthy and continuing to throw, but all indications are that the club wants him to focus on being fully healthy heading into next spring.

Rainey has been on the shelf all season as he recovers from Tommy John surgery. He has a 3.52 ERA and eight strikes over 7 2/3 innings with Triple-A Rochester but his velocity has been noticeably down. There remains no timetable for his return but the team’s goal is for the 30-year-old to be ready to go for Spring Training.