Washington Nationals News: Why Drew Storen has been struggling lately
By Pablo Roa
Good evening DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily. Get caught up on the latest Nats news and opinions with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post discusses the recent struggles of Nationals reliever Drew Storen. As Janes notes, Storen has struggled mightily since switching to the set-up role, posting a 5.79 ERA in the eighth inning this season.
In her article, Janes discusses several reasons why Storen has struggled in recent weeks. As Janes writes, one of the main causes of the right-hander’s troubling slump is his command (or lack thereof).
Storen has been missing his spots and has often left breaking balls hanging up in the zone. Hopefully for Storen and the Nationals, the right-hander can solve his issues before the regular season ends. With Jonathan Papelbon set to be the closer in 2016, the Nationals may look to trade Storen in the offseason. But as his struggles continue, Storen’s trade value appears to be dropping by the day.
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Also in today’s Daily, ESPN’s Adam Rubin and Eddie Matz discuss how the Mets have upset the Nationals and taken control of the NL East this season.
Be sure to check out both articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Here’s what has been causing Drew Storen so much trouble lately
(Chelsea Janes, Washington Post)
Drew Storen allowed seven runs in the first four months of the season. He’s allowed 15 since August began. Storen went all of May without walking a batter. He walked three in Tuesday night’s loss to the Mets.
“I felt really great, just command was a little off,” Storen said Tuesday. “Couldn’t hit a spot, just missing.”
Walks have not always been the culprit since Storen switched to set-up. That he is pitching to a 5.79 ERA in the eighth inning and a 1.62 ERA in the ninth this season cannot be entirely attributed to that often damning statistic: he is actually pitching to a better strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.25) in the set-up role than he was when closing (5.75). Read full article here.
How Mets stole NL East from Nationals
(Adam Rubin and Eddie Matz, ESPN)
In a preseason poll of 88 ESPN experts, 85 of them picked the Washington Nationals to win the NL East. Two picked the Miami Marlins. Which means just one picked the New York Mets, who currently hold a six-game lead over the Nats (and, ahem, a 19 1/2-game lead over the third-place Fish). So what happened? And is the race over? Mets beat writer Adam Rubin and Nats beat writer Eddie Matz discuss how the East was won — or at least borrowed — and how the stretch run is shaping up for the two teams. Read full article here.
Next: Rapid Reaction: Nats Late Inning Collapse Crushes Playoff Hopes