Nationals request release waivers on Cole Henry, reinstate DJ Herz from 60-day IL

The Washington Nationals requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Cole Henry on Monday, per Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors, with the corresponding 40-man roster spot going to left-hander DJ Herz, who has wrapped up his rehab from UCL surgery and been reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

What happened

Per the report, Henry had been placed on the minor league injured list roughly four weeks ago — without a specific injury designation from the club at the time of that placement with Triple-A Rochester. That detail matters procedurally: injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers under standard roster rules, so once Washington settled on Henry as the corresponding move for Herz's return, requesting unconditional release waivers was the most straightforward path available to them, Steve Adams notes.

Herz, 25, is reportedly set to make his first MLB appearance since September 2024 when the Nationals face the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Monday, with Herz listed as the probable starter against River Ryan, per the schedule.

Why it matters

Henry's departure closes a chapter defined almost entirely by interruption. A second-round pick out of LSU in 2020 who signed for a $2MM bonus, per the report, Henry ranked among Washington's top prospects and arrived with the profile of a legitimate rotation piece. What followed instead was a procession of setbacks: a 2022 surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, elbow pain, a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder, and a back strain, per Steve Adams. The canceled 2020 minor league season compounded the lost development time. Per the report, he has accumulated just 218 2/3 professional innings across more than six years since being drafted — a figure that, on its own, captures the scope of what was lost.

Herz's return, meanwhile, represents something the Nationals have been waiting on since the left-hander made a notable impression during the 2024 season. Washington had previously acquired him in a trade that sent Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs, per the report. In 2024, Herz started 19 games and posted a 4.16 ERA before his season ended. The UCL surgery that followed kept him off a major league mound for the better part of a year. His reinstatement from the 60-day injured list — which, as a general roster mechanic, removes a player from the 40-man count during their absence — now returns him to the active picture for the final stretch of the season.

The Nationals have been navigating a busy late-September roster calendar. A few days before Monday's moves, Washington reinstated right-hander Josiah Gray from the 60-day injured list, his first MLB appearance since April 2024 after a flexor strain had sidelined him through the year. The club has also been reported to be in extension talks with right-hander Cade Cavalli, with multiple reporters noting those conversations were nearing a deal that would buy out at least one free agent year, per reporting from earlier in the week.

The numbers

Henry's big league résumé is brief by necessity. Per the report, all 66 1/3 of his major league innings came across the 2025-26 seasons, during which he posted a 5.02 ERA. His 21.5% strikeout rate sat just shy of average, per Steve Adams, while a 12.5% walk rate created the kind of command profile that makes roster decisions easier. At the minor league level this year, Henry tossed 22 innings and was torched for an ERA north of 6.00, per the report — though a 21-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in that same stretch suggests the underlying stuff was not entirely the problem.

Per the report, Henry works primarily off a four-seamer and slider, with an occasional sinker and cutter mixed in. His four-seamer has averaged 93.8 mph this year, and his slider has sat at 82.2 mph. The 6'4", 200-pound right-hander is 27 years old with a minor league option year remaining, per Steve Adams.

Where the club stands

Washington enters Monday at 73-83 (.468), sitting fourth in the NL East, 19 games back in the division, and eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race. The club ranks eighth in Wild Card positioning, 13.0 relative to the cut line, and carries a one-game losing streak into Comerica Park.

The remaining schedule includes two more games in Detroit — Tuesday with Jackson Kent listed as the probable against Drew Anderson, and Wednesday with the Nationals' starter listed as TBD against Framber Valdez — before the series concludes. For a club already playing out the string, the final weeks carry a different kind of value: innings for pitchers returning from long absences, and answers to questions that the standings no longer make urgent.

What we don't know yet

The Nationals did not provide an injury designation for Henry's most recent minor league IL placement, per the report, so the nature of that setback remains unspecified. What his health outlook looks like heading into the offseason is, accordingly, an open question — and it is the one that will most directly shape whatever market exists for him this winter.

What to watch

### Will Henry resurface with Washington or elsewhere?

Per Steve Adams at MLB Trade Rumors, Henry should draw interest on a minor league deal this winter, with his age — 27 — and remaining minor league option year working in his favor. The report notes it is fairly common for players in similar situations to re-sign with their previous organization, and the Nationals themselves are described as a plausible destination. Whether any club extends that interest will depend heavily on his health outlook, which remains unresolved.

On the Herz side, Monday's start against Detroit is the first real look at what the left-hander brings back from his UCL rehab. He enters with a track record that earned him a rotation spot in Washington's plans — the 2024 numbers and the prospect capital the Nationals gave up to acquire him both speak to that — but a return from UCL surgery always carries its own set of questions that only innings can answer. The final weeks of a season already decided in the standings are, at minimum, a useful place to start collecting them.