Yesterday, Joe Blanton continued his early season struggle as he gave up a two run home run that cost the Washington Nationals the game. Is it time to panic?
When the Washington Nationals signed Joe Blanton during spring training, most people thought Mike Rizzo got a great bargain to get a quality reliever on a one-year deal. But, is it too early for Rizzo to feel some buyer’s remorse on the Blanton signing since the 36-year-old has not had a good start to the year?
Yesterday, it was Blanton who gave up a two run home run to Cesar Hernandez in the top of the eighth that ultimately gave the Phillies a 4-2 win over the Nats. In four of his six outings this year, he has given up one run or more as a one inning reliever.
Blanton was ahead in the count 0-2 on the leadoff hitter, Freddy Galvis, but he ended up hitting him with a slider. Usually, good things don’t happen when you walk or put the leadoff man on. That trend continued as Hernandez hit a home run to right two batters later.
For more on yesterday’s game in addition to Blanton, check out Ron Juckett breaking it down on the DoDcast postgame show:
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In fact, Blanton’s only great outing with the Nats so far came a week ago against Philadelphia. When the team needed a reliever to give them innings to avoid a position player pitching, the right-hander delivered by throwing three perfect innings.
As Dusty Baker pointed out yesterday after the game, everyone in the bullpen has been having problems giving up home runs. Blanton has given up three to start the season, which ties him with Shawn Kelley for the team lead:
Dusty on the bullpen's home run trouble: "there's no explanation. It's been everybody."
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) April 15, 2017
If you go off the back of his baseball card, giving up home runs usually isn’t an issue for Blanton. In 75 games with the Dodgers last season, he gave up a total of seven home runs and he didn’t allow his third home run until May 27.
While Blanton is second in strikeouts among all Nats relievers, his fastball has been hittable. According to Brooks Baseball, teams were hitting .400 against Blanton’s fastball heading into yesterday (Hernandez’s home run came against a heater). Also, he told the media that there is a mechanical issue with his slider he’s trying to work out:
Blanton believes it's a slight fix on his slider. Mechanical tweak needed. Trying to grind through it
— Byron Kerr (@ByronKerr) April 15, 2017
Now, Blanton didn’t get a full spring training to get into form, but he still appeared in seven games. The team hasn’t needed a long man that much, but Blanton could be seen as that type of option if he struggles in the middle innings. But, it’s becoming more and more clear the long man now is Oliver Perez, who the team has only used twice.
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It’s too early to tell if Blanton is going to be a bust in 2017 for the Washington Nationals. However, the fastball is being crushed by opposing hitters and if teams can lay off his slider, that could keep happening. There’s no need to panic yet, but there is a lot of concern.