Washington Nationals snag Blue Jays reliever who was edged out after Okamoto signing

The edges of the Toronto Blue Jays roster continues to evolve and the Washington Nationals may be thanking Toronto later on this year after their latest move. With Kazuma Okamoto joining the Blue Jays, the club had to make room on their 40-man roster to add him.

That move resulted in right-handed pitcher Paxton Schultz being designated for assignment earlier this week and it didn't take long for the 28-year-old to find a new home.

Washington Nationals snag Blue Jays reliever who was edged out after Okamoto signing

The Nationals have picked up Schultz, according to the team's official twitter account. They had room on their roster after releasing right-handed pitcher Sauryn Lao on Friday morning. 2025 was the big league debut for Schultz and he showed some promise in his peripheral numbers, even if his stat page doesn't blow anyone away.

Schultz recorded a 4.38 ERA in 24.2 innings in 13 appearances, that included two games started. The Nationals were likely drawn to his 25.5% strikeout rate and 7.3% walk rate which were better numbers than he has shown in his career in the minor leagues. He's also got an interesting mix of pitches that could play well with the right adjustments. He throws a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, slider and a changeup, with the fastball averaging at 94 mph.

The Nationals bullpen was ranked dead last in the league in 2025. Their relievers combined for a 5.59 ERA and they also traded some of their better arms at the trade deadline, including Kyle Finnegan, Luis Garcia and Andrew Chafin. That means Schultz has a big opportunity ahead of him to earn a spot out of Spring Training and stick around for a while.

The Blue Jays have spent most of the winter upgrading their pitching staff making players like Schultz expendable.