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Washington Nationals: Koda Glover’s season ends with injuries

By Ron Juckett

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A sore rotator cuff for Washington Nationals reliever Koda Glover ends his campaign. Among the tough lessons learned, there is hope for the future.

For Washington Nationals reliever Koda Glover, this has been a forgettable season.

What started with such promise ends with shoulder inflammation that has not gone away. The 24-year-old last pitched on June 10 and will miss the rest of this year, no matter how far the Nats go.

Glover struggled early in the regular season with the hip injury carrying over from last year. After an impressive Grapefruit League, he landed on the disabled list with his labrum issue at the end of April. As the bullpen churned through failed closers, he won the job near the end of May.

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But a shower injury and a rotator cuff inflammation ended his season. He pitched in pain and allowed seven earned runs over two games and one full inning. Over one week, his ERA ballooned from 2.08 to 5.12.

As he told Chelsea Janes of The Washington Post recently, Glover understands pitching through pain was a mistake:

"“I’m a lot more concerned with my body now. Used to be I was kind of like, whatever. I think being young and immature kind of plays a role in that, you kind of feel invincible some times. But now definitely I’ve been humbled. I’ve taken a step back, got to reevaluate a lot of things. I’m definitely going to be smarter about my body from now on.”"

When he is on, Glover has the mentality and stuff to shut down other teams. Given the chance to close games, he did. Over his six appearances as the healthy closer, he walked none and allowed a single hit over 5.2 innings. His hard, biting fastball rang up seven.

The good news for the Nats is he is under tam control for the next five seasons. Glover is not arbitration eligible before the 2020 season. With his ability to dominate games, there is a role for him if he stays healthy. As Sean Doolittle has three years left on his deal, including options, there is time to build a role for Glover.

Because the major bullpen issues plaguing the first half of the season are gone, at least on paper, starting next. Glover has time to recover and push for a full season. If Brandon Kintzler leaves via free agency, there is a potential spot as the seventh-inning setup man.

Or, if Matt Albers chooses not to return, Glover could fill the float position. His arsenal is strong enough to go when needed. If he can mentally prepare for the sixth inning one night and filling in for Doolittle the next, there is around 50-60 innings available.

Next: Strasburg continues to dominate

Learning his own limits is crucial as Glover matures. The next step is swallowing those hard lessons and mastering his own game. Something sure to cause queasy video training from Queens to Miami.

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