Tyler Clippard Will Eat Your Children

For anyone who was forced to sit through the crap-tastic Nationals bullpen last year, it was obvious that changes needed to be made. The drafting of Stanford Closer Drew Storen last year was a big step, as was the acquisition of lefty Sean Burnett and simultaneous jettisoning of Closer du jour Joel Hanrahan. The signing of Matt Capps, who had some success with the waste land that is the Pirates, was encouraging. However with a bullpen still in shambles and the organization wanting to give Storen some time in the minors to start the season, there was a hole in the bridge between the mostly mediocre starting pitching and Capps. That bridge? 25 year old former Yankees starter Tyler Clippard. Clippard was effective(1.13WHIP) last year in mostly mop-up duty, but this year thanks to an excellent three pitch combo and his past as a starter, Clippard has been able to mow batters opposing batters down in the late innings and with the Nats knack for rallying late, has picked up 5 Wins in his 15 Appearances- 10 of which have seen him go longer than the usual 3 outs. Here’s an nice video of Clippard speaking about his role with the team, his confidence, his pitching, and eating the oppositions children with Bill Clinton impersonator, Nats Analyst, and un-intentional comedy genius Ray Knight.