Washington Nationals: Big bullpen gambles are paying off
By Tom Sileo
The Washington Nationals won two crucial postseason games largely because of their manager’s willingness to use two elite starting pitchers out of the bullpen.
The eighth inning has been the stumbling block all year for the Washington Nationals. With the season on the line in two critical postseason games, manager Davey Martinez decided to roll the dice.
He won both bets in a big way.
In Game two of the NLDS on Friday in Los Angeles, Martinez surprised just about everyone by turning to his presumed Game 3 starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, to pitch the dreaded eighth. Not only did the future Hall of Famer hold Washington’s lead; he struck out all three Los Angeles Dodgers hitters he faced.
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During the NL Wild Card Game on Tuesday in Washington, Martinez used Stephen Strasburg out of the bullpen to make sure a two-run deficit didn’t get any larger. Strasburg was brilliant while working three shutout innings, including the eighth, which enabled the Nats to rally and save their season.
Martinez made another big bet on Strasburg by starting him Friday despite only two days rest. Once again, the gamble paid off. Strasburg largely shut down the vaunted Dodgers lineup, which set the stage for a crucial Nationals win to even the series.
When Scherzer was brought in out of the bullpen, I tweeted that to pull off what would be a huge upset, a team has to take big risks. That’s exactly what Martinez has been doing by using his two biggest weapons, Strasburg and Scherzer, to stay away from his middle relievers. Other than Daniel Hudson and Sean Doolittle, the Nats bullpen simply can’t be trusted.
To beat the heavily favored Dodgers, the Washington Nationals will need to keep thinking outside the box, from potentially bringing back Scherzer on Sunday to possibly using Patrick Corbin out of the bullpen since Doolittle is the team’s only left-handed reliever. After all, it’s October.
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“This the playoffs,” Scherzer told reporters after Friday’s big win. “You lay it on the line every single time you touch that field.”