Washington Nationals: Has the Koda Glover hype gone away?

Last spring, many Washington Nationals fans were excited to see relief pitcher Koda Glover. With the 2018 season only a few weeks away, the love seems to have disappeared.

Washington Nationals relief pitcher Koda Glover had a tremendous opportunity in 2017. After Blake Treinen and Shawn Kelley failed in the closer role, the rookie reliever took over.

Unfortunately, Glover also struggled in the ninth inning. Worse, he suffered a season-ending injury in the shower, which limited him to 19.1 innings over 23 appearances — in what started as a promising campaign ended far too prematurely.

This doesn’t mean Glover cannot bounce back in 2018 and put together a respectable season. Although he’s not in line to pitch the ninth inning, Glover may have plenty of essential innings ahead of closer Sean Doolittle. He’s still the franchise’s future closer. First, he has to stay on the field and get outs consistently.

Glover wasn’t a complete disaster in 2017. It wasn’t until he started pitching in the ninth frame when things went awry. His 5.12 ERA was terrible, but there is some promise. Glover gave up only one home run during his brief run and walked slightly under two batters per nine. By keeping the ball in the yard and not allowing an abundance of round-trippers, Glover has overcome an issue many young pitchers face.

Koda Glover’s role with the 2018 Washington Nationals

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The 2018 Washington Nationals Opening Day roster will feature many players returning from 2017. They have yet to add to the bullpen but will begin the year with their three significant midseason acquisitions. Along with closer Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler will return. We should also see flamethrowing lefty Enny Romero, Shawn Kelley, and Sammy Solis. Although, the latter two are not locks based on their performance last season.

I suspect Koda Glover needs a defining spring to guarantee a roster spot in game one. For as much as the Nationals seem to like him, he does have minor league options and could become a casualty to a roster spot. I would still say he has a better chance at a bullpen spot than many other candidates. The role he’ll have, though, looks different from what he became accustomed to.

Doolittle, Kintzler, and Madson are there to pitch when the Nationals have the lead. You can even include Romero in that mix for a solid foursome. The rest of the bullpen will take a backseat and get their innings in other ways.

Next: Texas Rangers in position to sign Dallas native Charlie Blackmon in 2019

Expect Glover to earn his way back into the good graces of management and fans. The hype, while evaporated, can fall back down from the skies again.