Washington Nationals: Bullpen Issues Causing Dusty Baker To Overuse Starters

Although it’s still early in the 2017 season, the Washington Nationals bullpen has struggled mightily, and they’re forcing Dusty Baker to overuse the starting rotation.

The Washington Nationals bullpen has been among the worst in the league so far this season, ranking 28th in bullpen ERA. Since Dusty Baker doesn’t have many reliable arms in the bullpen, he is forced to let the starters throw more innings, which puts a lot of unnecessary stress on their arms early in the year.

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Usually starters are done around 100 pitches in April because they are still building up their stamina. However, nine out of the 13 starts from the normal Nats rotation (Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Roark, Max Scherzer, Gio Gonzalez, and Joe Ross) have been over 100 pitches. The longest start has been Scherzer’s April 18 outing in Atlanta when he threw 116 pitches.

This is especially an issue for Scherzer because he is consistently in the top tier of starting pitchers when it comes to innings pitched, so his arm endures a great deal of stress throughout the season. Allowing him to throw 116 pitches in his third start of the season is irresponsible. He is signed through 2021, so there is no sense in blowing out his arm now. He takes up a huge portion of the Nats payroll, and they need him to be pitching at as high a level as possible throughout the duration of the contract.

Whether it’s fair or not, Dusty Baker is widely blamed for ruining Kerry Wood and Mark Prior‘s careers. While managing the Cubs, Baker put a tremendous workload on Wood and Prior, and their careers were both eventually derailed by arm injuries. While Baker may not be responsible for their injuries, his history is a bit alarming.

Although it’s not healthy for the starters to throw so many innings this early in the season, Baker doesn’t have much choice. The rotation has been lights out, and almost every trip to the bullpen is an adventure. The Nats have consistently gotten leads and cruised for seven innings, and then the bullpen comes in and blows it at the very end. They cannot afford to keep blowing late inning leads.

The main culprits so far have been Blake Treinen, Joe Blanton, and Sammy Solis. Treinen, who was named the closer out of Spring Training, has already lost the role after just two weeks. In 6.1 innings, he has allowed five runs on ten hits and six walks. Treinen has phenomenal stuff, but couldn’t find success in the closer’s role. Hopefully he can return to form in a fireman’s role.

Blanton, who got off to a good start, has since declined greatly. In seven innings, he has given up five runs on seven hits. His main issue so far is that he’s been extremely vulnerable to home runs. After giving up seven homers in 80 innings in 2016, he has already given up three homers in just seven innings.

Solis was one of the Nats’ best relievers in 2016, but has not been able to get the same results in 2017. He has given up four runs in just 4.1 innings, leading to a 8.31 ERA. On Wednesday, he was placed on the 10-Day DL to make room for Ross, so hopefully he will improve when he returns.

The only relievers who have been somewhat reliable so far are Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley, and Matt Albers. Glover and Kelley are taking over the closer’s role from Treinen, which should be beneficial. Kelley got off to a rough start, but has quickly improved and emerged as the leader of the bullpen.

Albers has been a pleasant surprise, throwing four shutout innings so far. Upon his call-up, he appeared to be a likely candidate to quickly return to the minors, but he has earned his spot in the bullpen.

Next: Management Responsible For Blake Treinen's Failure

The bullpen as a whole has gotten off to a terrible start in 2017, and must improve quickly. Their struggles have forced Baker to overuse the starters, and this could plague the Nats moving forward. There is not much major-league ready starting pitching depth, and the Nats can ill afford to lose a starter.

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