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Former Astros reliever signs with NL club.

A former Houston Astros reliever has signed with an intriguing NL team.

Shawn Dubin made his MLB debut with the Astros in 2023 and spent parts of three years with the team as an impact reliever. Yet, he was DFA’d by Houston last August and was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.

After signing a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in December, he was released at the end of April and has now signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals, according to the team’s transaction page.

Dubin was selected in the 13th round, with the 402nd overall selection of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Astros. He was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on June 18, 2023. He made his debut on June 19 against the New York Mets and struck out the first batter he faced in Brandon Nimmo.

After pitching two scoreless innings in his debut, Dubin was shelled in the third inning, allowing 5 runs.

In his MLB career, Dubin is 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA in 64 games, including 3 starts over 88 innings. His best season was in 2024, when he went 1-1 with a 4.17 ERA in 31 games, including 2 starts over 45.1 innings, while striking out 49.

Dubin will begin his Nationals tenure likely in Triple-A. He could be some bullpen help in the very near future for Washington.

Nationals Bullpen Stellar in Win

Although Washington signed Dubin, the Nationals’ bullpen was stellar on Sunday.

In the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Brewers, the bullpen was stellar as Zack Littell pitched 3.2 innings, allowing 1 run, out of the bullpen following lefty opener PJ Poulin.

“I think he just did a really good job of living on the edges. Not really leaving pitches over the middle of the plate,” said manager Blake Butera. “Also, he was ahead a ton. He threw a bunch of strikes, which he always does, but I think he did a really good job of missing barrels by not missing over the heart of the plate.”

Mitchell Parker then pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, before Gus Varland allowed 1 run in 0.2 innings. Richard Lovelady then came in and got the final 2 outs for the save.

Lovelady was also impressed with Littel and the entire bullpen in the win.

I thought he was tremendous,” said Richard Lovelady, who earned the save. “… I’ve seen him when he was with the Rays – the guy’s a great pitcher. Just because you have a couple struggling starts to start the year, it’s not going to define who you are for the season.”

With the win, the Nationals are 16-19.

Astros High-Leverage Reliever Rebounds

Houston’s bullpen is in a bit of trouble as Josh Hader is out with an injury.

Bryan Abreu was put into the closer’s role, but he has struggled as he entered Sunday’s game with a 12.54 ERA. However, Abreu kept the Red Sox off the board in the ninth and 10th innings to pick up his first win of the season, which was a promising sign.

“Bryan Abreu, let’s start there,” manager Joe Espada said. “First win of the year. Happy for him. There’s always a moment during the season where it gets you going, and that might be Bryan’s spot right there. We can’t get to where we want to get to without Bryan Abreu. Hopefully this is a trampoline that gets him going. I’m really proud of him for those two innings.”

Abreu can build off this outing and continue to be a high-leverage reliever.