The Washington Nationals possess one of the best records in baseball, even with a ridiculously bad bullpen staff. The diamond in the rough out of the group has been rookie Koda Glover, who can help turn the team’s late-inning troubles around.
The Washington Nationals, despite owning the third-best record in the league, have a big glaring issue.
Their rotation is excellent, headed by Max Scherzer and possesses the sixth best ERA in baseball. The offense is the best in the league, ranking first in runs scored and boasting hard-hitting sluggers like Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman – gasp, it’s 2017 and Zimmerman is good again.
Ironically, Washington’s problems have stemmed from its bullpen, which was ranked second, 10th and fourth in ERA in the previous three years. It’s ranked dead last in that category this season.
Although Dusty Baker has voiced some frustration over this crucial issue, specifically the closing carousel, his savior could be the inexperienced, hard-throwing Koda Glover. The rookie was officially named the team’s closer Wednesday.
Oh, also Dusty Baker basically admitted Koda Glover is closer: "It's his now."
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 25, 2017
Glover’s competition floundered during their opportunities to hold down the ninth inning. Blake Treinen, the closer on Opening Day, owns a ghastly 7.52 ERA in 20 1/3 innings this year. His successor, Shawn Kelley, has a somewhat better – and by that I mean still horrible – 5.93 ERA.
It seemed like Baker was running out of options, hence why the Nats were already eyeing guys like Kelvin Herrera, Alex Colome and Mark Melancon a few weeks ago.
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But Glover could ameliorate the problem and be a reliable closer moving forward. While his resume doesn’t turn any heads, his numbers are much better than Baker’s other two options. He’s also a young, talented hurler with plenty of untapped potential.
The right-hander owns a respectable 2.52 ERA so far this year, racking up 11 strikeouts compared to two walks. His stuff isn’t spectacular, but his fastball-sinker combo is a valuable weapon – each sits in the mid-90s, per FanGraphs.com.
Glover was a menace during his stint in the minors, garnering a 2.07 ERA across 87 innings. Most impressively, his strikeout-to-walk ratio was about 6.5 during that span.
Washington will likely make a move before the trade deadline with a plethora of closers out on the wire, but Glover could pitch well enough to retain his role. The Nationals could acquire Melancon or another premier shutdown closer or just settle for a more serviceable setup guy – it’s hard to be much worse than Kelley and Treinen have been.
It also doesn’t hurt to have a group of sluggers in the lineup that can help right the ship late in the game in case the pitching staff chokes.
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Just think of it this way: Washington is still one of the best teams in the league without a good bullpen. If Glover can fulfill his role and the front office deals for another shutdown reliever, the team will only get better.