2013 Nationals Review: Tyler Clippard

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Name: Tyler Clippard

Position: Reliever

Stat Line: 

2013 Expectations: 

2013 was a toss up for Tyler Clippard. He got removed from his closer role and had one of his worst season’s as a major leaguer in 2012. He gave up almost four runs per nine innings, and that is not getting the job done as a back end bullpen guy. So expectations were obviously low, as all you want is for him to find his form again and get back to normal.

He will give you 70 appearances, a good strikeout rate and not give up too many hits. He is a great bullpen pitcher if he can just keep the ball in the ballpark. This should be a bounce back season for Tyler Clippard.

2013 Results: 

2013 was a very good season for Clippard. He was in a late inning role, but not the closer’s role. He did get to finish six games out of the 72 he appeared in. He pitched 71 innings, in those 72 appearances. He was a one inning guy and most relievers are. You pitch your one inning and you’re done. Sitting through another half inning for a reliever usually ends up with bad news, when they toe the rubber for the next inning.

Clippard really improved on not giving up runs. He gave up his long balls, but they didn’t hurt as bad as usual. He got back to his 2011 form by only giving up 2.4 runs per nine innings. His strikeouts have gone down a bit over the past few seasons but he is still getting guys out and that is all that matter right?

He finished with a Wins Above Replacement of 1.8. His second best of his career. You could easily say this was his second best big league season. He was unbelievable in 2011 and that will be hard to top. He finished with a 3.4 WAR in 2011. Overall it was a great season for Tyler Clippard.

2014 Outlook: 

We can expect another great season from Clippard. He fully understands his role of being in the 7th or 8th inning about 70 times a season. Hopefully his strikeouts come back to form, but as long as he is getting outs, you can’t really complain.

It will be hard to duplicate last season, but it should be somewhat close. He won’t get as lucky with BABIP but all in all, it should be a good season, for a guy that has to have one.

If the Nationals want to succeed Tyler Clippard is a big piece of that, even though he only takes the ball 70 times a year.