Riley Cornelio

Riley John Thomas Cornelio

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 185 lb.
• School Texas Christian University
• High School Pine Creek High School
• Debut April 24, 2026

• Born June 6, 2000 in Honolulu, HI USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Riley Cornelio was born in Hawaii but grey up in Colorado. After attending Texas Christian University, he was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 7th round of the 2022 amateur draft.

Used almost exclusively as a starting pitcher in the minors, he reached AAA in 2025 with the Rochester Red Wings. He went 6-7, 3.28 in 27 games and 134 133 innings with three different teams that season. He started 2026 with Rochester and was 2-0, 2.45 after 4 starts when called up to Washington on April 24th. He made his major league debut that same day as a reliever against the Chicago White Sox, entering the game in the 7th inning with Washington holding a 3-2 lead. he proceeded to lose that by giving up 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th, and after Washington had tied the game in the 8th, he gave up another run in the bottom of that frame to be saddled with the 5-4 loss. In all, he gave up 3 runs (one of them was unearned, the result of his own throwing error in fielding a sacrifice bunt in the 7th) on 2 hits and 4 walks in his two innings, picking up 1 strikeout, and was sent back to Rochester after that outing. Of course, a lot of the blame for this poor performance could be laid on Washington's management, who decided to use Cornelio in an unfamiliar role in a tight game, instead of having him start the game (the Nats decided to go with an opener, making well sure that no pitcher would be used in his normal duties that day).

Further Reading

• Brad Wakai: "Nationals Send Riley Cornelio Back to Triple-A After Disastrous MLB Debut: It was not a debut to remember for Washington Nationals pitcher Riley Cornelio.", Sports Illustrated, April 25, 2026. [1]

Related Sites

• Riley Cornelio on mlb.com
• Texas Christian University bio