Who should close for the Washington Nationals heading into the final stretch of the season?

The Washington Nationals solved a long-time issue last season by acquiring three pitchers with closing experience. Yet, here we are again, wondering who will finish games for the Nats.

Heading into this season, the Washington Nationals were expected to have one of the strongest bullpens in all of baseball. At last year’s deadline, they acquired Sean Doolittle, Ryan Madson, and Brandon Kintzler to fortify their late-inning staff for the 2017 postseason, and after falling short in the NLDS they stocked up even further this summer by adding flamethrower Kelvin Herrera.

Not only did the Nats acquire four pitchers in an 11-month span who have combined for five All-Star appearances and 218 saves since 2014, but they have also gotten solid relief work from lesser-known names as well. Shawn Kelley, Matt Grace, and Justin Miller, who tend to work earlier in games in lower leverage situations, have thrown 109 innings for Washington this season to the tune of a 3.13 ERA and 9.33 K/9 innings.

One would think the Nationals have solved all of their bullpen-related issues with this group of high-profile arms and stellar supporting cast, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. Sean Doolittle and Kelvin Herrera find themselves on the disabled list, Brandon Kintzler finds himself in Chicago after being traded to the Cubs in a move that has Nats fans (and Kintzler himself) scratching their heads, and Shawn Kelley finds himself in Oakland after the A’s picked him up off waivers after Kelley got DFA’d for throwing a temper tantrum.

Suddenly, the Washington Nationals find themselves scrambling to put together a bullpen deep enough to make a postseason push in which they need to catch up to the division rival Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.

With all of these firemen absent from the active roster, Washington needs to find a new ninth-inning guy and seem to have named one in Madson, but is he truly the best option? Let’s take a look at the Nationals’ options to take on the high-leverage closer role at this critical point in their season:

Ryan Madson

As mentioned, the Nats have recently handed Madson the reigns as closer Wednesday night following Herrera’s placement on the disabled list. The Nats selected Madson with good reason, as the 6’6” monster of a man has a 0.87 ERA and .152 opponents’ batting average in the last month.

However, Madson seems to be better suited as a setup man, as he fares better in non-save situations (2.48 ERA) than save situations (3.76 ERA) while the Nats hope age doesn’t catch up to him in these last couple months as he approaches his 38^th birthday.

Greg Holland

No Washington Nationals pitcher has had as much of a whirlwind past 12 months as Greg Holland. The World Series champion and three-time All-Star saved 41 games last year for the Colorado Rockies, earning NL comeback player of the year after Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2016 season.

Even so, Holland had to wait until March 31^st to receive a contract this year as he inked a one-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. Missing spring training caused Holland to get off to a treacherous start, posting a 7.92 ERA and 2.24 WHIP with the Cards before being released at the beginning of this month.

The Nationals signed Holland knowing that it was a risk, however, if he can return anywhere close to his 2015 and 2017 form the risk might pay off. Holland has been a staple in the ninth inning for the last several years and has dazzled in the postseason, so his ceiling knows no bounds.

Matt Grace/Justin Miller

I clumped Grace and Miller together because if manager Dave Martinez were to ever look outside of Madson and Holland to fill the closer role, it would be wise to use Grace and Miller in a platoon role.

This is because the left-handed Grace and right-handed Miller can be used based on matchups, as both perform better against their like-handed opponents. Grace’s 1.76 ERA vs lefties while Miller’s 2.49 ERA vs righties this season makes this a match made in heaven.

However, one would have to worried about these two pitchers’ lack of closing experience. Neither Grace nor Miller has recorded a save this year and their joint ERA and opp. OPS balloon to 4.29 and .761, respectively, in the eighth inning or later.

Final Verdict:

In the end, the Washington Nationals need to take big risks if they want to leapfrog the Phillies and Braves to claim the NL East crown and tabbing Greg Holland as their new closer is a risk that would pay huge dividends if it pans out.

Holland’s struggles earlier this year were mostly in lower-leverage roles and are a misrepresentation of his usual dominance, and if he is as effective in the final stretch as he was in 2017, he could lead the Nats to the playoffs, the setting in which he shines the brightest.

Holland is a strikeout-machine who will hopefully return to his groundball-inducing ways after pitching at fly ball happy Coors Field last year.

If he comes through in the closer role the Washington Nationals will look back at Holland’s signing as a difference-maker on the road to attaining a postseason berth, and success in October could enough to entice free-agent-to-be Bryce Harper into returning to the nation’s capital.