Washington Nationals: Sean Doolittle establishes himself as an elite closer

Our 2018 report cards series continues as we move onto Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle, who established himself among the game’s elite in 2018.

When the Washington Nationals acquired Sean Doolittle from the Oakland Athletics, they were hoping to acquire a no drama closer. Now, after the 2018 season, the left-hander has somehow managed to exceed those expectations.

While he only ended up appearing in 43 games, he was able to record 25 saves in 26 chances as well as a superb 1.60 ERA. He was a pretty reliable option when he came to D.C. from the bay area, but now he’s jumped up to the game’s elite.

While Doolittle did get his first National League All-Star nod, and the second All-Star selection of his career, he couldn’t participate due to a stress fracture in his toe. Pitching in the mid-summer classic in his home ballpark would’ve been the cherry on top of a fine season for him.

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The Positives for Doolittle

There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how well Sean Doolittle did last season, as when he was healthy, he was almost unhittable. His ERA of 1.60 was ninth in the major leagues among relievers to pitch at least 20 innings, and third in the NL. His FIP was even better as his 1.89 figure led all NL relievers with a minimum of 20 innings and ranked fourth in the majors.

He was able to accomplish his spectacular season by simply blazing his fastball by hitters, and they just weren’t able to hit it. He had the lowest contact rate of his career at 69.7 percent, which led to a career-high in swinging strike percent at 16.8 percent. The deception in his delivery combined with velocity and command is lethal and not likely to go away anytime soon.

Areas for Improvement

The only real knock on Doolittle’s season was the stress fracture that kept him out for over two months, and even then, that’s tough to really blame him for. Thankfully, the team took the cautious approach when bringing him back, and have set him up to have another dominant year in 2019.

If you want to be really picky, you could point to the fact that Doolittle’s BABIP was minuscule at .196, and could point to regression. That figure was the lowest in the NL among relievers who had 20 IP, so keeping it that low seems unsustainable. But also in the same sample size, he had the seventh highest soft-contact rate at 28.4 percent, so don’t expect too much regression with a rate like that.

The Final Grade

It speaks to the impact Sean Doolittle has had on and off the field that the reliever is already a fan favorite in the nation’s capital. His All-Star worthy season in 2018 only cements his stature with the Nationals, in a role that used to be such a problem area for the ballclub.

With two more years of team control, the Nationals can look to build the bullpen around Doolittle who proved he’s among the game’s best closers. Were it not for the injury he would’ve scored top marks, but even with that factored in, he’s still near the top of the class. A

Remember to keep an eye out for more Washington Nationals 2018 Report Cards during the upcoming weeks here at District on Deck.