After yesterday’s minor deal with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire a potential bullpen arm in Cole Wilcox, POBO Jerry Dipoto and GM Justin Hollander remain active in their efforts to add to The Pile this offseason and claimed RHP Ryan Loutos from the Washington Nationals. The move puts the 4o man roster at 38.
Loutos is a hulking 6’5 240lb hurler that originally signed as a UDFA out of D-III Washington University (the one in Missouri) with the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2021 and worked his way up through their minor league system despite never truly dominating at any level. Eventually debuting with the team in 2024, Loutos was DFA’d and shipped to the Dodgers for cash in 2025 before he was again DFA’d and picked up by the Nationals later that season. It was objectively a brutal year for Loutos, and his 12.75 ERA shows that, but there may be some low hanging fruit here that could make him a worthwhile arm to have in the organization.
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The easiest change regards his fastball, a pitch he throws 46% of the time and is not all that special in any way. He’s tinkered with a sinker in the big leagues that would offer an alternative to his subpar heater if he was able to nail it down, but at present, he can’t keep throwing this version of his fastball as much as he does. Opposing batters hit .440 off the offering in 2025 with a healthy amount of damage and it was easily his worst pitch in his arsenal. His slider was considerably better than the heater and has more of a gyro shape than his sweeper, another pitch I’d expect the M’s want him to throw more. Both versions of the slider seem like his best chance at performing in the big leagues, and perhaps those two in tandem with a new sinker lead him to success.
In all likelihood, this is just a claim to supplement the Triple-A stash of arms, and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see him let loose in favor of a free agent signing or trade acquisition, but as of now, he’s the latest addition to the stables of the Seattle Mariner bullpen and provides the team with a fresh arm that has multiple option years remaining. Hopefully he’s just a few tweaks away from being a contributor in 2026.