Washington Nationals’ bullpen is vulnerable despite two wins against Philadelphia Phillies - MLB
The Washington Nationals have little reason to be complacent even after winning two games in a row. What they cannot forget to fix, as they progress ahead in the season, is their shaky bullpen.
Henry Rodriguez has been doing great job as closer for most part of the season. However, in the last couple of games, his performance has declined sharply.
Volatility in Rodriguez’s performance is not as big a concern as is a list of injuries their relievers are suffering. Games which saw Rodriguez struggling in the ninth and giving up runs was just to be considered as normalcy, if the Nationals had reliable
alternatives in the bullpen.
Drew Storen and Brad Lidge are missing due to injuries, leaving few options for the manager Davey Johnson to work with.
The manager will be aware of the fact that victories are coming mainly because starters are doing the bulk of the work. The day they fall short and give up a flurry of hits at the start, their weakened bullpen will have a tough task to carry out. That will
be a scenario, which will expose the Nationals. At worst, it can rob them of certain victories.
Against all the odds, the manager shows trust in existing strength of the team. Options are rife and relievers available are rightly capable of finishing the task, he stated.
“I have confidence in everybody out there so there’s a lot of alternatives,” Johnson said. “It may be just by committee and who’s rested at the time goes ahead and pitches the ninth instead of the eighth.”
Rodriguez is short on confidence and needs a boost in the form of few good games to get it back. He has shown the mettle for becoming great closer in a couple of games.
As it appears, he has lost faith in his ability. Once his confidence is high, he will be an ideal option for the Nationals late in the innings.
Getting Storen and Lidge back to rotation at the earliest will go a long way in fixing one of their loopholes. Perhaps that will be the time when the Nationals will have a chance to become an unbeatable side.
Until this happen, the manager will be looking to squeeze the best out from remaining options in the bullpen.
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