The Nationals announced Wednesday that they’ve reinstated slugger James Wood from the 10-day injured list. He’s been out for the past month due to an oblique strain. Left-hander Tom Cosgrove was designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the active roster. Washington also recalled right-hander Riley Cornelio from Triple-A Rochester. He’ll take the roster spot of outfielder Andrew Pinckney, who was optioned to Triple-A last night after the club’s win over Atlanta.
Cosgrove, 30, signed a minor league deal with the Astros over the winter but came to the Nats in an early July swap that sent cash back to Houston. Washington selected him to the majors a week later.
The early returns on that minor swap were good. Through his first 11 appearances, Cosgrove pitched 10 2/3 innings and held opponents to just two runs on eight hits and three walks with eight strikeouts. He’s since been drilled for 11 runs in just 5 2/3 innings, however, ballooning his season ERA to 7.71 in 16 1/3 frames.
Cosgrove has now pitched in the majors in each of the past four seasons. He’s also suited up for the Padres and Cubs. Overall, he’s pitched 86 1/3 major league frames and turned in a respectable, if unspectacular 4.59 ERA while fanning 20.5% of his opponents against an 8.6% walk rate.
When he debuted with San Diego in 2023, Cosgrove sat 92 mph with his four-seamer and 91 mph with his sinker. His velocity has dropped starkly in the three subsequent seasons, however; he sat 88.6 mph on the four-seamer and 88.3 mph on the two-seamer this season. He’s had particular struggles with men on base in recent seasons, stranding just 49.5% of the baserunners he’s allowed dating back to 2024. (League average is around 72%.)
Cosgrove is out of minor league options. Any team that claims him would need to plug him right into the major league bullpen. In the likely event that he clears waivers, he’ll have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.
Wood, 23, has ripped 30 home runs for a second straight season — despite playing in only 114 games so far. He came to the Nats as one of the centerpieces of the trade sending Juan Soto to San Diego and has promptly broken out as star player and franchise cornerstone. The towering 6’7″ outfielder has made the NL All-Star club in two straight seasons now and is batting .260/.368/.500 with 61 homers and 32 stolen bases in 1224 plate appearances dating back to Opening Day 2025. He currently leads the National League with a .393 on-base percentage and 100 runs scored.
