Nationals select the contract of Wil Crowe

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Wil Crowe and added him as the 29th-man for Saturday’s doubleheader against the Miami Marlins. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Nationals transferred right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg (carpal tunnel neuritis of the right hand) to the 60-day Injured List. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.

Crowe, 25, will make his Major League debut as the starter in Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader. He is currently rated by MLBPipeline.com as Washington’s No. 5 prospect and by Baseball America as the organization’s No. 6 prospect. He entered the 2020 season with the “Best Changeup” in Washington’s Minor League system, according to Baseball America.

In 2019, Crowe went 7-10 with a 4.70 ERA in a career-high 26 starts between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Fresno. His 26 starts and 149.1 innings pitched were the most among Washington's farmhands and his 130 strikeouts between the two stops were the second most in Washington's Minor League system. Crowe went 7-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 16 starts for Harrisburg, before being promoted to Fresno on July 11.

Washington's second-round pick in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina, Crowe was Washington's co-Minor League Pitcher of the Year and the Carolina League Pitcher of the Year in 2018. He began the 2018 season 11-0 with a 2.60 ERA through his first 17 games (16 starts) between Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. Crowe finished the 2018 season 11-5 with a 3.40 ERA in 22 games (21 starts).

Strasburg, 32, made two starts for the Nationals in 2020. He went 0-1 with a 10.80 ERA in those two starts.