Washington Nationals 2017 Player Preview: Koda Glover

Washington Nationals reliever, Koda Glover began 2016 in Single-A and finished in the majors. Will he be able to continue his tremendous progression in 2017?

Koda Glover, the sixth best prospect in the Washington Nationals organization, is hardly a prospect anymore. The 23 year-old reliever began the 2016 season in Single-A and finished the year pitching in the bigs.

Glover burst onto the scene in late July with a four pitch inning in his MLB debut against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had an extremely impressive rookie season and was a key arm during the Nats’ pennant race until a torn labrum in his hip derailed his season.

Glover’s hip has since healed and he’s been lights out this Spring, forcing himself into the closer conversation. The Nationals have always loved Glover, but people outside of the organization have begun to take notice as well. Jon Heyman of Fanrag Sports recently reported that Glover is the favorite to become the closer. Former Nationals GM, Jim Bowden has also predicted that Glover will be the closer by June.

According to Brooks Baseball, Glover’s repertoire consists of a fastball, slider, curveball, and change-up. All of his pitches are thrown hard and with a great deal of movement, making him near impossible to hit.

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Glover fits the typical closer’s mold. As mentioned before, he throws hard and misses bats, which is huge for a closer. Also, the best closers are usually a bit different and won’t back down from anything. Glover fits this perfectly. He is Cherokee Indian, and “Koda” means “bear” in his native language. A bear is a perfect metaphor for Glover, and he doesn’t care about anything other than kicking butt and taking names.

Of the three relievers competing for the closer’s role (Glover, Shawn Kelley, and Blake Treinen), Glover has the most experience closing games despite not having a big league save. Glover was a closer while in college at Oklahoma State University and closed at all levels of the minor leagues within the last two years.

While Glover has said that he is willing to fill any role that the Nationals see fit, he enjoys closing the most. Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post wrote on Saturday that the Washington Nationals supposedly handed out a questionnaire to all their new draftees, asking simple questions about their past playing experience.

One of the questions on the questionnaire given to the pitchers was “Are you a starter or reliever?” The then 22 year-old Glover, shortly after being drafted, answered “I’m a closer.”

In Glover, the Nats have a special talent on their hands. At just 23 years old, he has already accomplished so much and has flashed infinite amounts of potential. He appears to be the perfect guy to win the wide open closers competition.

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If given the opportunity, Glover has the potential to be a top of the line closer as early as this season. After going from Single-A to the majors in 2016, look for Glover to continue his meteoric rise in 2017.

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