After landing the 11th overall pick in Wednesday’s MLB Rule 5 Draft, the Washington Nationals capitalized to draft right-handed pitcher Griff McGarry from the Philadelphia Phillies, getting a chance to upgrade the arms within the farm system. This marks the fourth consecutive year the Nationals have made a selection in the Rule 5 Draft.

“The stuff stands out, the velocity,” new Nationals general manager Blake Butera said. “Even since we took him, people reached out just saying what type of kid he is, what type of worker he is.”

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“Rule 5 picks, there’s always a challenge there. But I think just the position we’re in, and bringing in a new coaching staff…we have some people we feel really good about that can hopefully make some of these changes a little bit quicker.”

McGarry was selected by the Philadelphia organization as a fifth-round pick out of the University of Virginia in 2021 and is coming off his best season. He posted a 3.44 ERA over 21 starts in 2025, 17 of those appearances in Double-A, with 124 strikeouts in 82 2.3 innings. His 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings ranked fourth in the minor leagues, giving the Nationals a flier in the bullpen. The Phillies elected to not add McGarry to their 40-man roster on Nov. 18 after also walking nearly 14% of batters in 2025, though was named Phillies Minor League pitcher of the year to give the Nationals enough confidence to move on Wednesday.

“If you ask Griff, he’d probably say the same, like he wants to be in zone more,” Toboni said. “So we’re just going to try and simplify things for him and hopefully clarify things for him.”

The Nationals also added six players through the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, leading the MLB after no other team selected more than four. It’s an expected development, though, given Washington led the league with 34 minor leaguers enter free agency.

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Washington selected right-handed pitcher Sandy Gaston from the Los Agneles Angels, right-handed pitcher Brady Hill from the Colorado Rockies, right-handed pitcher Dylan Tebrake from the New York Mets, outfield Jack Rogers from the Cincinnati Reds, right-handed pitcher Eiher Huizi from the San Diego Padres and right-handed pitcher Cesar Rojas from the Tampa Bay Rays.

It’s the latest sign of development being prioritized since Toboni arrived from the Red Sox.

“You only have so many opportunities every year to upgrade a minor league player pool,” president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said. “While we went into it with an aggressive mindset, it all comes down to individual players and the intrigue that each of them provides.”