Jeffrey Cole Henry (born July 15, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

Career

Henry is from

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and attended school at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. As a freshman, he was voted onto the 2019 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament team. He was also named one of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

's Freshman of the Week on April 19, 2019. As a sophomore, Henry was the Friday night starter for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

, prior to the cancellation of the 2020 baseball season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. That June, Henry was drafted in the second round of the 2020 draft by the Nationals and chose to turn pro. As of December 2020, he was ranked as the Nationals' third-best prospect by '' MLB Pipeline''. Henry appeared in one game with the Nationals during 2021 spring training. He was assigned to the High-A

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

, alongside other top prospects, to begin the season. After missing time during the 2021 season with injuries, Henry was invited to participate in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

alongside seven other Nationals prospects. Henry pitched as both a starter and a reliever for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Roya ...

and was named to represent the Nationals in the Fall Stars Game, although he was unable to play. Henry made 9 starts in 2022, split between the Double-A

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team who play in the Eastern League, and are the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The team is based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at FNB Field on Cit ...

and Triple-A

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

. In 31.2 innings pitched, he logged a 1.71 ERA with 34 strikeouts. On August 28, 2022, he underwent season-ending surgery to address

thoracic outlet syndrome Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a condition in which there is compression of the nerves, arteries, or veins in the superior thoracic aperture, the passageway from the lower neck to the armpit, also known as the thoracic outlet. There are t ...

. The procedure involved removing his first rib and a neck muscle. On May 18, 2023, Henry returned to action, making a rehab start for the Single-A

Fredericksburg Nationals The Fredericksburg Nationals are a Minor League Baseball team that is the Single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and play their home games at Virginia Credit Union Stadium, with a capacity of ...

. On November 14, 2023, the Nationals added Henry to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He was optioned to the Double–A

to begin the 2024 season. In 8 games (5 starts) split between Harrisburg and Wilmington, Henry compiled an 0-1 record and 3.31 ERA with 17 strikeouts across innings pitched. During

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2025, Henry was transitioned to the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if ...

for the first time. He was optioned to the Triple-A

to begin the 2025 season. On April 13, the Nationals promoted Henry to the big leagues for the first time following an injury to Orlando Ribalta. He made his debut the same day, striking out

Matt Mervis Matthew Jared Mervis (born April 16, 1998), nicknamed "Mash", is an American professional baseball first baseman in the Miami Marlins organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago Cubs. Mervis played colleg ...

and

Javier Sanoja Javier Ernesto Sanoja (born September 3, 2002) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder and infielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024. Career Sanoja signed with the Miami Marlins as an ...

in a game against the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

loanDepot park LoanDepot Park (officially stylized as loanDepot park, and named Marlins Park until 2021) is a retractable roof stadium located in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins. It is located on on ...

Pitching style

A right-handed pitcher, Henry commands a fastball that touches and has an above-average changeup.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Cole 1999 births Living people Baseball players from Alabama Florida Complex League Nationals players Fredericksburg Nationals players Harrisburg Senators players LSU Tigers baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Rochester Red Wings players Sportspeople from Florence, Alabama Surprise Saguaros players Washington Nationals players Wilmington Blue Rocks players