Jeremy Hellickson, Nationals agree to deal for 2019

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson and the Washington Nationals have agreed in principle to a $1.3 million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal was subject to a successful physical exam.

Hellickson, 31, signed a 1-year/$2M deal last March and posted a 3.45 ERA, a 4.22 FIP, 20 walks (1.97 BB/9), and 65 Ks (6.41 K/9) in 19 starts and 91 1⁄3 innings pitched before a wrist injury in August, which he re-aggravated in a mid-September start, ended his season.

After a rough 2017 campaign which saw Hellickson put up a 5.43 ERA, a 5.77 FIP, 47 walks (2.58 BB/9), and 96 Ks (5.27 K/9) over 30 starts and 164 IP for Baltimore and Philadelphia, GM Mike Rizzo said that his scouts saw they saw some things they thought would make a difference for the starter. “We found a couple of differences in his delivery that I know he’s worked on in California and he’s taken here,” Rizzo said at Spring Training last year, as quoted by AP writer Chuck King. “Hopefully he can make that little adjustment.”

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Apparently the Nationals were happy enough with what they saw to bring him back for a second season in the nation’s capital.

If Hellickson, who missed time with a hamstring injury before the wrist issues, can stay on the mound in 2019, he’ll give the Nats another option for the fifth spot in the rotation that already features Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, Stephen Strasburg, and Aníbal Sánchez. Hellickson’s deal is a major league contract, so he’ll be in camp this Spring competing for the fifth spot with the likes of Joe Ross (who’s coming off rehab for Tommy John surgery), Erick Fedde, (who dealt with shoulder issues in 2018) and the other starters that Rizzo and Co. in the Nationals’ front office have heading to West Palm Beach, FL to compete for the starting rotation.

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