Washington Nationals’ Drew Storen lacks command since returning from injury - MLB News
The relief pitcher Drew Storen struggles to live up to expectations of the Washington Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson. During the game against the Miami Marlins, Johnson had to yank him from the mound after his command went awry while pitching.
Storen remained out from the season due to the elbow surgery he went through in April. Despite his penchant for playing in the season, his injury kept him on hold. Even when he had rehabilitated completely, the Nationals took their time to decide about allowing
him to pitch in the games.
The manager Johnson was of the view that hurried return of Storen will not be made. Only when the relief pitcher shows control and command consistently in the rehab games, he will be brought in the Majors.
Therefore, when Storen was finally called up, it was believed that he will keep batters from bunting singles and drawing walks from his throws. However against the Marlins the other day, he was unable to hit the desired spots in the strike zone. His throws
were wayward and were always prone to resulting into runs.
After watching Storen lacking command in the match, Johnson is unhappy with the reliever and hopes to see him improved in the upcoming games.
“His ball was moving everywhere.” Johnson said. “It landed about three feet. I didn’t want to have to do what I had to do there. With him, I didn’t want him to throw too many pitches coming off that injury.”
Johnson has planned to use Storen sparingly in the season. He wants to increase burden on him gradually. Given the fact that the strategy Johnson has followed in the season toward his relief pitchers has worked. It is safe to assume that by slowly getting
Storen to throw more pitches, he can pull off the desired results.
In the case of Tyler Clippard, a relief pitcher with the Nationals, Johnson has used the same strategy. Realising that he boasts the talent for saving games, he slowly enhanced his time on the mound in the season. Eventually, he began using Clippard almost
regularly, bagging great results from his innings in turn.
Storen will be disappointed after the manager Johnson scratched him in the last game. He will be looking to work out issues with his throws and come out better in the upcoming games.
Tags: