Washington Nationals: three players recently acquired who didn’t pan out
Another trade deadline is on the horizon. Let’s look at three players recently added who didn’t really boost the Washington Nationals performance.
As much as teams like to say they hope trades work out for both teams, there are clearly winners and losers each time a trade gets worked out. For the most part the Washington Nationals have come out winners in deals constructed by General Manager Mike Rizzo.
Today we will look at a couple recent trades that did not return much value for the Nationals. Too early to tell if the team “lost” the trade or not, as the youngsters going the other direction need time to either pan out or flame out.
We are steadily approaching the trade deadline for 2020 and the Nationals have had the luxury of being buyers more times than not. The current state of the team may determine this to be false this year.
If the Nationals do indeed become sellers we will have to wait and see if the players in the return package offer any value. At times teams are looking for a salary dump more than the pieces they get back.
With that being said let us discuss three players the Washington Nationals recently acquired, who were unsuccessful in their stays with the team.
Hunter Strickland
The Washington Nationals knew who Hunter Strickland was prior to the 2019 trading deadline. He was guilty of throwing at Bryce Harper, when the young outfielder played for the Nationals, inciting a bench clearing brawl.
Nonetheless, the Nationals were in dire need of some bullpen relief and the Seattle Mariners were desperate to dump some salary and get some prospects in return.
On the surface, this looks like a good trade and the bullpen makeover helped the Nationals win the World Series.
Digging deeper, Strickland was as advertised. He may have had a 2-0 record in 2019 with the Nationals, though he pitched to the tune of a 5.14 earned run average. He struck out less than one batter an inning, gave up five home runs in twenty-one innings, and had an ERA of 18.00 in the two postseason games he did appear in.
He was left off the NLCS and World Series rosters.
Strickland was in camp with the Nationals during spring training, though the gopher ball continued to be his undoing. He was released in mid-March prior to the roster freeze taking place.
The Nationals had a need to improve the bullpen in 2019. Hunter Strickland simply didn’t pan out.
Roenis Elias
Acquired in the same trade with the Seattle Mariners which brought Hunter Strickland to town, Roenis Elias was brought in to stabilize the bullpen in 2019.
Elias pitched in four regular season games for the Nationals. He failed to hold a lead in one of them, allowing inherited runners to score, in what would turn into a Nationals loss. He allowed runs in two of the other three games he participated in.
This was the extent of the Elias contributions to the 2019 World Series team.
In his debut game, he was left in to hit and told not to swing the bat. He chopped one up the middle and pulled up lame running to first base. A hamstring injury would cost him three weeks.
The Nationals decided to put him on the NLCS roster, though he was not called upon to pitch. He was replaced on the World Series roster.
Entering the 2020 season, the hope was for Elias to be a big part of the bullpen. Some thought he could audition for a late inning-high leverage pitcher.
Ultimately he was placed on the 60-day injured list with a flexor strain in his left elbow.
Thankfully he is under team control in 2021 and has time to take his name off this list. As of now, Roenis Elias has not panned out for the Washington Nationals.
Kelvin Herrera
One of the most sought after arms approaching the 2018 trading deadline was Kelvin Herrera. The closer for the Kansas City Royals was on the trading block and most teams in contention were looking to add him to their bullpens.
The Washington Nationals struck early. They acquired Herrera in mid-June, well before the end of July trading deadline.
With Sean Doolittle entrenched as the closer, the Nats were going to use Herrera as a setup man. He struggled mightily.
In just 21 games, Herrera was 1-2 with a 4.34 earned run average. His WHIP was 1.71 and he allowed four home runs in just over eighteen innings pitched.
Herrera spend time on the injured list with a shoulder issue and as the August 31st waiver trade deadline approached would have surely been a good trade chip for the Nationals. Hovering around the .500 mark, it became clear the Nationals were not going to make the playoffs. With Herrera set to enter free agency at the end of the season they could have flipped him.
Less than a week prior to August 31st, Herrera torn a ligament in his foot. This marked the end of his season, ruined any chances the Nats had of moving him in a trade, and ended his tenure with the team.
When Herrera signed with the Chicago White Sox in the off season, he became a trade acquisition who didn’t materialize for the Nationals.
Next. Approaching trade deadline feels like 2018. dark