Washington Nationals: 5 storylines to watch as Nats visit Marlins Park
By Drew Douglas
Miami’s new-look bullpen
Despite the fact that the Marlins currently sit in second place in the NL East, they are not a contending team in 2017. They know this and are in the middle of trading most of their valuable trade chips as part of their rebuild.
The Marlins have made two trades over the last couple weeks, both of which involved relievers. On July 20, they traded David Phelps to the Seattle Mariners. Then eight days later, they traded closer A.J. Ramos to the New York Mets.
With Phelps and Ramos both out of the picture, the back-end of the Marlins’ bullpen is pretty depleted. To make matters worse, Kyle Barraclough is currently on the disabled list with a shoulder impingement.
There hasn’t been a save situation since they traded Ramos, but there’s not a clear closer left in the bullpen. Brad Ziegler appears to be the leading candidate, but he is 0-for-3 in save opportunities this year and hasn’t pitched well in his age-37 season.
The Nats don’t have to worry about Ramos, Phelps, and Barracough, which could be extremely beneficial. As the Nats learned first-hand this year, a lack of reliable arms in the back-end of the bullpen can be brutal and make it near-impossible to win.
Between the Nats’ potent offense and the Marlins’ depleted bullpen, the Nats should always be within striking distance, even if they’re trailing late in the game.
The Marlins still have valuable trade chips in the bullpen, such as Barraclough and Dustin McGowan, so it’ll be interesting to see if they trade anyone else and how their new-look bullpen fares.