Washington Nationals News: Casey Janssen addresses his future with the Nats
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, James Wagner of the Washington Post discusses reliever Casey Janssen‘s struggles in 2015 and what the future might hold for the veteran left-hander.
As Wagner writes in his article, Janssen and the Nationals have a mutual option that could bring the reliever back to the nation’s capital in 2016. But at $7 million and after down and injury-riddled season, it seems unlikely that the Nationals would want to pick up the option.
Janssen struggled in 2015, posting a 4.84 ERA after missing the first two months of the season with a shoulder injury. The left-hander was supposed to be the Nationals’ eighth-inning setup man and replace Tyler Clippard in that role, but he never lived up to expectations and the Nationals were forced to rely on young, inexperienced arms.
Of course, Janssen wasn’t the only problem the Nationals had in the late-innings — the entire bullpen was a disaster. But at this point, it would be hard to justify giving $7 million to a player who was virtually a non-factor for the Nationals in 2015.
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That being said, the team is expected to completely rebuild the bullpen this offseason after its miserable 2015 campaign. When it comes to the bullpen, anything can happen between now and Opening Day. Only time will tell if the team’s plans for the ‘pen include Janssen.
Also in today’s Daily, the Post’s Chelsea Janes gives her take on which Nationals players exceeded, met, or fell short of expectations in 2015.
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.
Casey Janssen addresses his future with the Nationals
(James Wagner, Washington Post)
When the Nationals signed Casey Janssen to a one-year $3.5-million deal that included an option for 2016, they believed the former closer’s track record would enable him to be a solid replacement for traded Tyler Clippard, and to fill the needs of a new-look bullpen. Instead, Janssen’s past shoulder issues flared up, he missed most of the first two months of the season and then endured his worst major league season since 2009.
Although some of his peripheral pitching statistics weren’t much different than his 2014 season, Janssen did worse, a 4.95 ERA in 2015. His hits, home runs and walks allowed were above the marks in his best seasons, and his strikeout rate was below his career rate. At key times, the 34-year-old struggled to put batters away, his 88.3 mph fastball the lowest average of his career. Read full article here.
Nationals 2015: Who overachieved, underachieved, or neither?
(Chelsea Janes, Washington Post)
Disappointment discredits expectations. Counting one’s chickens before they hatch is a perfectly reasonable thing to do if one has watched chickens hatch before, but disappointment brings reevaluation.
Now, as the Mets charge through the National League Championship Series and the Nationals sit dormant, those early spring World Series expectations strewn carelessly across magazine covers (or special Sunday newspaper sections) feel foolish and irresponsible. How could anyone have thought such these Nationals would challenge for a title? How could wins or a historically stingy rotation or a handful of all-star seasons been posited so frivolously? Read full article here.
Next: Washington Nationals 2015 Player Review: Gio Gonzalez