Blake Butera Says He's Been Surprised by Nationals Bullpen Struggles
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The story for the Washington Nationals the last week has been about the struggles of their bullpen.
Instead of this young team sitting with a winning record 11 games into the season, their relief staff has directly been responsible for three losses against the Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. This was an issue last year, as well. And unfortunately, the front office regime change didn't result in a competent bullpen being built.
How things get fixed isn't clear. Barring a major change in philosophy from the top down, there is not an easy path to fielding a unit that can be consistently competent against major league hitters. But what's interesting is the Nationals seem to be surprised by what has taken place. At least that's what the comments made by manager Blake Butera suggest.
Blake Butera Did Not See These Bullpen Struggles Coming
"It surprised me. I didn't see it in spring training," the skipper said to reporters following Tuesday's loss. "Just behind in the count, it's hard to pitch to major league hitters when you're working behind. I mean just looking, 10 walks is too many. We can't beat teams when we're walking 10 people."
To be fair to Butera, this unit performed much better during the spring and created cause for optimism. While the fan base likely had their reservations based on how bad the bullpen was last season combined with the fact major changes weren't ushered in this winter, it was easy to see why the coaching staff might have some confidence. And when they actually pitched fairly well to start the year, it seemed like that unit might have turned a corner.
But the wheels have fallen off just two weeks into the season. And now there are real questions about how this young front office and coaching staff are going to address things as they try to solve the issues that are on display.
Nationals Won't Make Sweeping Changes Right Away
The first domino that fell was optioning right-hander Andre Granillo to Triple-A Rochester and recalling right-hander Paxton Schultz. That could be the first move in a long line of bullpen shuffles that takes place this year, but the Nationals aren't ready to make sweeping changes just yet.
"Don't wanna overreact to a guy having a rough outing, but also wanna give other bullpen arms opportunities to earn leverage roles, so it's a combination," Butera added. "You obviously wanna win every night, but also you're balancing not overreacting to a couple games versus trying to put your best arms out there."
Who Washington's best bullpen arms are is something that isn't clear right now. Cole Henry has been the best performer so far, but he's been leaky with inherited runners on base. Clayton Beeter has been solid, but he's walked four batters in 5 2/3 innings compared to striking out three. Brad Lord is their long reliever, which limits how often he can be used. And the veterans who were brought in have struggled thus far.
It's tough for the Nationals right now. And as they navigate the early part of the season, it's not clear if things are going to improve for this bullpen unit that has already cost the team wins.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai