Lefty Mitchell Parker, a promising rookie in 2024, pitched so poorly for nearly five months in 2025 that he was demoted to the bullpen in late September. At 5.85, he had the highest earned-run average of all qualified MLB starters and was tied for the most loses in the N.L.
Yet on Sept. 21 in New York, in the first relief appearance of his career, he set a Nationals’ record for the longest save, going three-and-third scoreless innings to preserve a 3-2 win over the Mets. He escaped a sixth-inning, bases-loaded, jam by inducing a force-out grounder and then retired 11 of the 13 batters he faced.
“It’s a different feeling, but it was a cool one,” Parker told the media after the game. Coming in at “a different part of the game, the energy’s a little higher, a close game, a big ballpark,” referring to the capacity crowd. Never having completed a start in the majors, he said it’s “something that I’ve always wanted to do my entire life was to shake the catcher’s hand at the end of the game. So being able to do that was awesome.”*
Parker got the call to relieve righty starter Jake Irvin, another under-performer for the 2025 Nats. Parker stayed in for the ninth because closer Jose A. Ferrer had pitched two long innings the previous night, one of five relievers who had been used an 11-inning Nats’ win.
The Mets were fighting to stay ahead in the playoff race before nearly 43,000 fans at Citi Field. For a second game in a row against the fifth-place Nats, they came up short. Those losses proved crucial in denying the Mets a playoff spot.
As well as Parker pitched, he couldn’t have done it without help from the fielding of Jacob Young, whose leaping catch at the wall for the first out in the ninth denied Francisco Alverez a potential game-tying home run.
Before Parker entered the game in the sixth, Young already had made a miracle catch in center to keep the Mets from scoring. He gloved the long drive by Brett Baty before hitting the centerfield fence, only to have the ball pop out. As it fell, Young was able to kick it straight up before it hit the ground and grab it again. The catch immediately was added to MLB’s list of the season’s best.
After a few seconds, Young jogged toward the dugout holding up the ball to prove as if to prove to himself what he had done. Irvin called it the best catch he had ever seen. The catch undoubtedly helped make Young a finalist for a Gold Glove in center for the second straight season. It was impressive enough that it became one of the three candidates in MLB’s Legendary Moments contest in November. The other two were Nick Kurtz’s four homer game and Shohei Ohtani’s new 50-50 club.
After poor performances in 2025, Parker, who turned 26 a week after his record save, and Irvin, who will turn 29 as spring training starts in 2026, will be fighting for starting spots next season. National fans had high hopes for both after several solid starts the previous season. Now, fans can only hope these two pitchers can bounce back.
*Parker had a nine-inning complete game in high-A ball in 2022, so he probably shook hands with his catcher then, or at least fist-bumped.
Washington baseball history 