{"id":8592,"date":"2026-08-03T23:04:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T23:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8592"},"modified":"2026-08-03T23:04:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T23:04:23","slug":"nationals-trade-breakout-starter-foster-griffin-to-guardians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8592","title":{"rendered":"Nationals trade breakout starter Foster Griffin to Guardians"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Foster Griffin, a first-time all-star for the Nationals, is heading to Cleveland. (Erik S. Lesser\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The Washington Nationals traded left-handed starter Foster Griffin to the Cleveland Guardians for a package of four players ahead of Monday\u2019s trade deadline, parting with another success story for the new front office.<\/p>

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Cleveland sent left-handers Josh Hartle and Will Dion, right-hander Kendeglys Virguez and outfielder Nick Mitchell to Washington in the deal.<\/p>\n

Griffin, signed in December to a one-year, $5.5 million contract, has been the Nationals\u2019 best and most reliable pitcher this season. He has pitched to a 3.06 ERA and made his first all-star team last month.<\/p>\n

Griffin was a first-round pick by the Kansas City Royals in 2014 and made his debut for the team in 2020. He had Tommy John surgery shortly after and didn\u2019t make another major league appearance until 2022, when he played in six games for the Royals and Toronto Blue Jays. Hoping to rejuvenate his career, Griffin decided after the season to take his talents to Japan.<\/p>\n

After signing with the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Griffin did just that. He expanded his repertoire to seven pitches and was named an all-star last year, when he pitched to a 1.52 ERA in 17 games.<\/p>

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With a second child on the way, Griffin and his family decided to return to the United States. His signing was the first by new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, and it ended up being the most successful. Griffin has averaged just under six innings a start, and he ranks in the top 10 in the National League in multiple categories, including ERA, WHIP (1.07) and innings pitched (129\u2153).<\/p>\n

After Friday\u2019s start in Atlanta, which ended up being his last in a Washington uniform, Griffin said he was thankful that the team took a chance on him coming out of Japan. Being a part of this clubhouse, he said, meant a lot to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not even about pitching,\u201d Griffin said when he reflected on what it\u2019s meant to be on the Nationals. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of just about the camaraderie in this clubhouse we\u2019ve created \u2014 the culture in here is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nationals traded infielder Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox for left-handed starter Connelly Early on July 25 and dealt Luis Garc\u00eda Jr. to the New York Yankees for four right-handed pitchers Sunday. That haul included Jake Bird and Yovanny Cruz, who were in the Nationals clubhouse Monday afternoon but not active yet.<\/p>

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The deal, which gave the Nats four players from Cleveland, came ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNationals trade breakout starter Foster Griffin to Guardians - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8592\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nationals trade breakout starter Foster Griffin to Guardians - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The deal, which gave the Nats four players from Cleveland, came ahead of Monday's trade deadline.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8592\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T23:04:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0062eae45acab6deac101d535093c770-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Nationals trade breakout starter Foster Griffin to Guardians\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T23:04:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592\"},\"wordCount\":456,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/d51b0fdaa8c6550b4a5591adf01b0db2-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592\",\"name\":\"Nationals trade breakout starter Foster Griffin to Guardians - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/d51b0fdaa8c6550b4a5591adf01b0db2-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T23:04:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=8592#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/d51b0fdaa8c6550b4a5591adf01b0db2-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/d51b0fdaa8c6550b4a5591adf01b0db2-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440,\"caption\":\"Washington Nationals pitcher Foster Griffin delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Atlanta. 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