Washington Nationals: Justin Wilson would be versatile fit for bullpen
By Ricky Keeler
With the Washington Nationals being rumored to go after Tigers reliever Justin Wilson, how would he fit in with the Nats bullpen?
Since the trade deadline a little over a month away and the draft behind us, the trade rumors are going to be rapid between now and July 31. Of course, the main need for the Washington Nationals is in the bullpen.
Over the weekend, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and MLB Network talked about Tigers left-handed reliever Justin Wilson and Oakland Athletics right-handed reliever Ryan Madson as possible trade targets to help fix the struggling bullpen.
For this article, let’s keep the focus on Wilson, who has been both the setup man and closer for the Tigers this year. In 28 games, he is 3-2 with a 2.67 ERA and is 5-for-6 in save chances. Plus, he has 39 strikeouts in 27 innings, including five multi-strikeout games in his last ten appearances.
While Wilson isn’t the proven closer that a lot of fans will want, the 29-year-old has improved his strikeouts per nine ratio each of the last four seasons. Back in 2014, he had 9.2 K’s per nine for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Now, fast forward four years later, and that number is now at 13 strikeouts.
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If the Nats do acquire Wilson before the trade deadline, he can fill a variety of different roles for the organization. If the team does need him to close, he can do that. But, he has yet to give up a run in the eighth inning for Detroit and teams are hitting .061 with two hits against him in that inning.
Of course, the Nats have a good amount of left-handed options in the bullpen when you include Enny Romero, Oliver Perez, and eventually Sammy Solis.
The unique thing about Wilson’s stats this year is that right-handers are hitting 99 points lower against left him than lefties. Right-handers are batting .151 while lefties hit .250.
Right now, the Tigers are not in sell mode yet as they are 4.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central and 2.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second wild card. Detroit is not normally sellers at the trade deadline and Wilson is still under team control for next season.
Since 2014, Wilson has been one of the more durable relievers in baseball. He has had 65+ appearances in each of the last three seasons. In addition, he has been a part of three postseason teams (Pirates in 2013 and 2014, Yankees in 2015).
Wilson is not as proven of a closer as David Robertson or Kelvin Herrera, but if the Washington Nationals can’t land those two closers, Wilson is a good fit as a backup option should Koda Glover come back and struggle in the ninth inning.
The Washington Nationals don’t seem to have any defined bullpen roles, which is strange because of how late it is in the season. It doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon.
With that being the case, maybe Wilson is the right choice because of his versatility. Now, the question is whether or not the Tigers will want to trade him and will the Nats have enough good prospects to trade compared to other teams. Only time will tell.