New father Mitchell Parker headed to Triple-A with the Nationals

WASHINGTON — There were at least two major happenings in the offseason life of Mitchell Parker, the professional pitcher in the Washington Nationals system from Manzano High.

The first was memorable and life-changing, while the second one hopes to be a bump in the road in his professional career.

“We (with wife Hayleigh) had a baby daughter, and she is 3 months old today,” said Parker, 26, standing by his locker at Nationals Park before Washington hosted the Baltimore Orioles in the final spring training game of the season on Monday. “That was the big event of the offseason.”

The second event wasn’t as pleasant.

Parker, while in Florida with the Nationals, was placed on the roster of Triple-A Rochester on March 14.

This comes after Parker was in the starting rotation for Washington in the major leagues for most of 2025, though he struggled with a record of 9-16 with an ERA of 5.68 with 103 strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.43. Late in the season, Parker pitched out of the bullpen for the Nationals, who have a new manager this year in Blake Butera.

The lefty from Albuquerque made his last exhibition appearance Sunday in Baltimore and went four innings, giving up five hits and two runs (on solo homers) while fanning eight batters as the Orioles won 8-1.

“He was awesome yesterday,” Sean Doolittle, a pitching strategist for the Nationals, said Monday. “I give him a ton of credit, after being sent down, to face a (strong) major league club.”

Parker was headed back to Florida on Monday and will join the Rochester club when the Red Wings open the Triple-A season at Jacksonville. Parker, who made his MLB debut with the Nationals in 2024, figures to be in the starting rotation for veteran Rochester manager Matt LeCroy. Rochester opens the season Friday at Jacksonville.

“I feel I am in a good spot,” Parker said. “I am excited for the season. We have been working on owning all of our pitches. I felt I was doing a good job of getting off-speed pitches (in the strike zone Sunday). I felt we controlled the pace of the game pretty well. At the end of the day, it was two bad pitches, which is a good day (most of the time). Unfortunately, those two pitches were two home runs (allowed to Gunnar Henderson and Colton Cowser). It is not always going to be like that.”

Doolittle, a reliever on the 2019 World Series champs with Washington, feels Parker has the ability to succeed at the major league level. "I think it is a consistency thing. He has shown he has the ability, not just to compete but really succeed. We still value him long-term. He has some things to work on, like his curveball. We want him to stay in starter mode” in Rochester.

The winning pitcher for the Orioles on Sunday in the exhibition was Arizona native Kyle Bradish, the former New Mexico State standout who is slated to start the Orioles’ second game of regular-season play on Saturday at home with the Minnesota Twins. New Mexico native Trevor Rogers is slated to start for Baltimore on Opening Day on Thursday against the Twins.

“That is cool to know he has been there,” Parker said of facing Bradish in a battle of New Mexico products. “Very rarely does that happen. There are not that many New Mexico guys out there so it is real cool.”

Parker was one of six players born in New Mexico who appeared in the majors in 2025. “It is the coolest thing ever,” he said of being part of that select group. “Baseball is moving in the right direction (in the state). It is exciting to be in the early development of that.”

Parker’s daughter was born in December in Florida, where the family now lives in the offseason near the Washington spring training facility in West Palm Beach.

“I was there last year and on and off the last few years,” he said. “I was not there in 2024. It is great — we are around our staff the entire time and have our resources. It sets us up for the best result. We have a good group of coaches that will get us in a really good spot.”

Parker hopes being in the minors will allow him to continue working on his mechanics with an eye toward getting back to the majors. It is rare a major league team gets through an entire season with just five starters. Drew French, the pitching coach of the Orioles, told the Journal on Monday the Orioles used seven starters in 2023, while he said the big-league average is 12 starting pitchers per season.

“Last year was not the most ideal year,” admitted Parker, whose numbers as a starter were near the bottom in the big leagues.

This spring with the Nationals he was 1-1 in three games with an ERA of 4.70 in 7.2 innings of work, with 11 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.43.

After last season, Parker spent time watching video of his outings from 2025.

“I want to get back to where we were” with some strong outings for the Nationals early in the 2025 season, said the product of the Albuquerque Baseball Academy.

Now Parker is headed to Rochester, the top farm club of the Nationals.

“I want to step back and work on some things and grind it out,” he said.

He hopes to get another shot with the Nationals later this season.

Freelance writer David Driver covered the Washington Nationals from 2013-22 for various outlets. He is the co-author of “From Tidewater to the Shenandoah: Snapshots from Virginia’s Rich Baseball Legacy,” available on Amazon and at daytondavid.com.