Nationals Skipper Has Simple Message to Bullpen as They Try to Turn Things Around
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The story surrounding the Washington Nationals right now is how poor their bullpen has performed.
While the starting rotation has also had their share of struggles during the early part of the season, the relief staff has been directly responsible for multiple losses the past week that has pushed the Nationals to a losing record instead of a winning one.
Manager Blake Butera said he was surprised to see that unit pitch so poorly after the strong showing they had during spring training. But despite the frustration these recent performances have caused, he has a simple message for his relievers that he hopes will get them back on track.
Butera Tells Relievers to Be Themselves
"I think we can all acknowledge the fact that the bullpen hasn't been what we expected or what we want it to be," he said, per Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic (subscription required). "With that, we see a lot of our bullpen arms probably trying to say, 'Hey, I’m going to get us going in the right direction today,' and maybe trying to do a little bit too much. So I think the messaging to our relievers right now is, 'Go be you. Go pitch. You can't control what happens. All you can control is attacking hitters, throwing your best stuff at them. Let the rest fall where it may.'"
Hopefully that helps turn around the performance of the bullpen. Getting behind in the count has been a huge issue for that unit, so attacking hitters and living with the results might yield better results than what has been on display recently.
Of course, Butera and the coaching staff will search for ways beyond verbal encouragement to get this relief staff on track. But getting into a confident state of mind is important for pitchers when they are struggling. Whether that's enough to stop this slide right now is something that will be determined when they return to the field following an important off day on Thursday.
Washington is relying on the coaching staff to get things fixed. There isn't a clear-cut answer when it comes to improving the bullpen barring the front office making some notable trades. So what's in place on the active and 40-man rosters is what they have to work with at the moment.
Hopefully the simple message from Butera about just going out there and attacking the zone and living with the results is enough to revamp this relief staff, as everyone involved with the Nationals tries to get things turned around.
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