The Washington Nationals are heading up north to face the Boston Red Sox, the former club of their new President of Baseball Operations, Paul Toboni. After a recent stretch in which the team's bullpen has been absolutely abysmal, the team is now faced with some more uncertainty before today's game begins.
Following some recent struggles from a couple of their lefties, the Nationals are now seeing a few pitchers hit the Injured List, and some new arms are coming in to take their place. We do not yet know the severity of the actual injuries from the most recent series, but more information should come out soon.
Nationals place Mitchell Parker and Richard Lovelady on 15-Day IL
It's no secret that the Nationals bullpen has struggled mightily recently. After a brutal 4-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies that saw the Nationals lose 3 out of 4 games at home with late blown saves and leads, things had to change drastically moving forward.
Part of the reason why the club had struggled to close out games was due to a pair of lefties in their bullpen regressing extremely hard. One of them, Richard Lovelady, had been an absolute revelation to begin the season for the Nationals, and had become one of the more trusted arms at Blake Butera's disposal. However, he had begun to slip up recently, and now we might know why.
Lovelady is hitting the 15-Day Injured List with with a triceps strain, but he's not the only one. Fellow lefty Mitchell Parker is also hitting the 15-Day Injured List himself with elbow inflammation, something that seemingly arose after almost blowing the game on Sunday for the Nationals. He had to be removed early, and saw his velocity dip drastically before he left, usually not a great sign.
Hopefully both lefties are okay from a health standpoint, but taking their place will be a pair of younger and slightly more intriguing options. Lefty Carson Palmquist, who debuted for the Nationals last week and pitched quite well, is back in the majors and looking to build upon his solid debut. Righty Riley Cornelio, who has already been up in the majors a couple times this year, is back as well, but he will be looking to change the course of his previous stints.
Cornelio struggled mightily in his first couple times up, but he is seen as a higher upside arm that could definitely emerge as a long-term piece in the back end of the Nationals bullpen if he can figure out his control. Both Palmquist and Cornelio will slot in for a unit that desperately needs some help, and perhaps the infusion of new faces will help things settle.
What do you think of the Nationals' most recent bullpen shuffling? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.
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