Washington Nationals closer Sean Doolittle had an outstanding 2019 season despite battling through injuries. Can the veteran repeat this success in 2019?
In 2018, the Washington Nationals bullpen was a big part of why the team was not able to reach the postseason. A big part of the decline in production had to do with a foot injury to their closer Sean Doolittle.
The Nationals veteran closer had been named to his second All-Star team and was one of the best closers in baseball at the midway point of the season. On July 10 Doolittle was placed on the disabled list with a foot injury that forced him to miss pitching in the Midseason Classic.
At the time the injury was thought of to be no more than a two-week ordeal, but it turned into much more. Doolittle ended up being out for two months and not returning to action till September 8, which by that time Washington was for all purposes eliminated from postseason contention.
In Doolittle’s absence, the Nationals bullpen took a huge hit in production. The team rotated through three or four closers and could not find anyone to fill the role successfully, and this played a big part in Washington falling out of the postseason race.
Despite his injury when Doolittle was on the field he was one of the best closers in the game. The 32-year-old posted a 1.60 E.R.A and 25 saves to go with an outstanding .135 batting average against himself.
Doolittle really was the glue that held the Nationals bullpen together, and when he was out there able to pitch, they performed fairly well.
This likely will be the case in 2019 once again. Washington has upgraded their bullpen this offseason getting Trevor Rosenthal, Tony Sipp, and Kyle Barraclough to help in the back-end of the bullpen, but Doolittle is the engine that makes the pen go. If he is not able to stay on the field again in 2019, the Nationals bullpen may be in big trouble.
In his seven-year career, Doolittle has not recorded an E.R.A worse than 3.23 when he has appeared in 40 games or more. So, if he is on the field he will be productive.
In 2019 I expect Sean Doolittle to anchor the Washington bullpen and once again be selected to the National League All-Star team. If healthy, Doolittle will be one of the best closers in the MLB this season.