Nationals Turning to Closer by Committee
By Owen Sanborn
After a rough outing on Friday night — which included giving up two homers in an eventual 9-8 loss for the Nationals — Rafael Soriano is being ousted as the closer for now in Washington.
The decline of Soriano during the second half of the season has been surprising given that he posted a dominant 0.97 ERA before the All Star Break. Since the ending of the Mid-Summer Classic however, Soriano has lost his stuff and posted a ghastly 6.98 ERA.
Manager Matt Williams has said that they will choose to go the route of the “closer by committee” which makes sense given the arsenal of arms they have in their bullpen. Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Ross Detwiler could all potentially fill in the ninth inning role on any given night.
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My favorite option out of that trio is Clippard, who combines a nasty changeup with excellent control and an above average fastball. It also helps that he is having a marvelous season with a 2.04 ERA and 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
There may been some initial panic from Nationals fans because one of the most important part of their team (the bullpen) is in a state of flux. Most teams with aspirations of playing deep into October have their bullpen solidified by the time the postseason rolls around.
Just take Boston last year with Koji Uehara for example, without his excellence, I bet the Red Sox do not win the World Series. And I PROMISE I am not just saying that because I am a bitter Yankee fan that is still mad that they went from worst to first.
Even with that said, I do not think that Nationals fans need to resort into a state of panic. I could even argue that having the three-headed monster of Clippard, Storen and Detwiler in the ninth is a better option than the aging Soriano.
The fate of the Nationals resides in their explosive lineup. If they are able to hit in the postseason (which very few teams are able to do these days) their staring rotation and bullpen are strong enough to solidify a potential World Series run.