The Washington Nationals wasted little time this offseason, making a trade for Kyle Barraclough in October to help bolster the bullpen.
This offseason, the Washington Nationals acquired two low risk, high reward relief pitchers: Kyle Barraclough and Trevor Rosenthal.
Of the two, Barraclough has the most question marks surrounding his game and his role on the team.
The Nats acquired Barraclough from the Miami Marlins for international bonus slot money, a tiny cost after Barraclough posted career-worst numbers across the board last season.
Barraclough had a 4.20 ERA, but a 4.98 FIP and 5.50 walks allowed per nine innings with Miami in 2018.
Before 2018, however, Barraclough was extremely effective for the Fish.
In 2016, Barraclough posted a 2.1 WAR season by recording a career-best 72.2 innings pitched, a 2.85 ERA, a 2.11 FIP and a 14.0 K/9 ratio.
The Nationals aren’t necessarily banking on him returning to his near-all-star form, but a 3.00 ERA and 60 innings would transform the Nats bullpen.
All the Nationals need from Barraclough is something they have not had in many relievers over the years: Consistency.
From 2014-2017, Nationals fans know the names Drew Storen, Shawn Kelley, and A.J. Cole because of how they were not able to sustain success from outing to outing.
However, some Nats fans might not immediately think of some of the best bullpen arms the Nats have had, such as the three Matt’s: Matt Grace, Matt Thornton, and Matt Belisle.
These three never made headlines, but they rarely had hitches in their giddy-ups. They all were good enough that they rarely hurt the team, but never great enough to garner the constant recognition they deserved.
If Barraclough stays out of the headlines and the press conference questions of the Washington D.C. media, it means he is doing his job.
The Nats don’t need Barraclough to turn into a right-handed version of Sean Doolittle. That is asking too much.
If Barraclough can be the bridge that rarely breaks between the starting pitcher and Rosenthal and Doolittle in the late innings, the Nationals bullpen will be in a great position to succeed.