For four months, Derek Law tried to get his arm ready to pitch in the major leagues, hoping the setbacks he experienced along the way could finally be overcome. Until the veteran Nationals reliever was told last week he has a partial tear of the flexor tendon in his right elbow, at which point hope turned to acceptance.
Law will undergo surgery soon to repair the tear, a procedure that will prevent him from pitching this season and likely sideline him until early-to-mid 2026. It’s a tough pill to swallow for the 34-year-old, who wanted to believe all along he’d be able to contribute to the Nats in 2025 but has now resigned himself to the fact he can’t.
“It was already hard enough to miss Opening Day this year. And then you hear that,” he said. “I needed every bit of five days to figure out in my head what the heck’s going on, the downtime I’m going to miss.”
The workhorse of the Nationals' bullpen, Law made 75 appearances and pitched 90 innings last season, the highest total by any of the team’s relievers since Tyler Clippard in 2010. He did so while missing two weeks in late-August with a flexor strain, an injury he rebounded from to close out the season with no real issues.
Law never could get his arm right this season, though. After a delayed build-up in spring training, he began experiencing elbow soreness, so he opened the year on the injured list. That turned into a much longer process than initially envisioned, with Law eventually making four appearances in minor league rehab games over the last month but unable to emerge from those sessions without a return of the elbow pain.
After the most recent such experience, he got a second opinion on his latest MRI from Dallas-area orthopedist Keith Meister. Though Meister found nothing wrong with Law’s ulnar collateral ligament, he did find a partial tear of the flexor tendon and recommended surgery to repair it. The typical recovery time is 9-to-10 months.
“I could probably try and throw through it, but I just don’t think it will get there,” Law said. “Which is really frustrating. Because I felt pretty good going into the rehab process. And then … it was kind of tough to get through the games, and even the recovery was worse. It just didn’t quite get there.”
There’s a natural inclination to associate Law’s current injury with his heavy workload from last year, but he’s hesitant to place the blame there.
“I mean, there’s a lot of mileage on this arm regardless of just last year,” the eight-year veteran said. “Years prior leading up to that. I don’t think so. That was the best I’ve felt last year in a long time, honestly. And that’s why I said keep throwing me. Maybe (there’s a correlation), I don’t know. But I felt great doing so.”
Law, who is in his final year of arbitration eligibility, is making $2.75 million this season. He’ll be a free agent this winter and will have to convince a team to sign him knowing he won’t be available for several months.
* Trevor Williams underwent an internal brace procedure to repair his partially torn elbow ligament Thursday, the procedure the veteran right-hander was hoping for, not the more substantial Tommy John surgery.
Alabama orthopedist Jeffrey Dugas had told Williams the internal brace, a less-invasive procedure that features a shorter rehab timeline, was the likely outcome, but he wouldn’t know for sure if a full ligament replacement was needed until he could see inside the elbow firsthand.
Williams, who signed a two-year, $14 million deal over the winter, expects to be ready to return in April or May. It remains to be seen how the Nationals would view him as part of their 2026 pitching staff after he struggled to a 3-10 record and 6.21 ERA in 17 starts.
* Keibert Ruiz resumed some light baseball activities today, but the Nationals will be extremely cautious with their catcher, who is making his second stint on the 7-day concussion IL.
Ruiz, who took a foul ball off his mask in only his second game back from his initial IL stint, took some swings in the batting cage today and caught throws from a pitching machine in the bullpen. He will be brought along slowly until doctors are convinced he’s cleared for full participation.
Riley Adams and Drew Millas remain the Nats’ catching tandem with Ruiz out.
* Dylan Crews appears to be on the verge of beginning a minor league rehab assignment, once he clears a couple of final hurdles this weekend.
Crews, out since May 21 with a right oblique strain, is scheduled to make throws from the outfield to bases this weekend, one of his final drills before he can play in minor league games. It’s possible the rookie will head out to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday, making his return to the big league roster potentially a week to 10 days away.
* Orlando Ribalta is heading to Triple-A Rochester to continue his rehab assignment. The right-hander, out since April 10 with a biceps strain, made two scoreless appearances for Double-A Harrisburg prior to the All-Star break.
* The Nationals are planning to officially sign and introduce No. 1 draft pick Eli Willits prior to Saturday’s game against the Padres. MASN will televise his press conference live at 3:15 p.m.
The 17-year-old shortstop from Oklahoma, the somewhat surprising top choice in this week’s draft, is expected to sign for less than Major League Baseball’s designated slot value of $11,075,900. That would free up more of the team’s total draft pool of $16,597,800 to go above-slot on several other high school players it selected in later rounds.
Included on that list is right-hander Miguel Sime Jr., the fourth-round pick who the New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported will sign for $2 million. That’s well above MLB’s slot value for that pick ($687,800).