Washington Nationals: mismanagement led to the demise of Drew Storen

A former first-round pick of the Washington Nationals, Drew Storen climbed to the highest of mountains, before falling to the deepest of valleys.

Being a first-round pick comes with a lot of pressure, and former Washington Nationals pitcher Drew Storen was ready to prove he could handle the most pressure-packed job in all of baseball, that of a closer.

The Nats used the tenth choice in the 2009 MLB draft on Storen out of Stanford University. While Stephen Strasburg, the team’s first overall choice that year didn’t sign his contract until the wee hours prior to the deadline, Storen inked right away so he could begin his journey to the big leagues.

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Storen tore through the minors, pitching in only 41 games before making his Major League debut in 2010, just one year after being drafted. By 2011 he had encased himself as the Nationals closer and saved 43 games.

Offseason surgery to remove a bone chip from his elbow sidelined him for the first half of the 2012 season, and apparently you can lose your job to injury. The Nationals used Tyler Clippard as the closer until the very end of the season. This was the first time Storen was treated dirty by the Nats.

After making the postseason, the Nats used Storen in Game 5 of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals to protect a 7-5. After getting two outs he loaded the bases, then surrendered a couple of singles to depart trailing 9-7.

Heading into the offseason, even though the team had a proven closer in Storen, they surrendered a first round pick while signing Rafael Soriano in free agency.

Soriano would close for the next year and a half before turning the job back over to Storen late in the 2014 season. Storen would end the regular season with 23 straight appearances without yielding an earned run. In his first appearance of the postseason, he turned a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 loss. The Nationals never fully trusted him in the closer’s role again.

Beginning 2015 as the closer Storen had 29 saves against just two blown saves when the team decided to add a pitcher at the trade deadline. Jonathan Papelbon was brought in and given the closer’s job, even though Drew Storen did nothing to lose it.

This lack of trust the Nats displayed in him had to mess with his psyche and Storen would blow three saves (as the main setup man) down the stretch. The Nats fell out of contention and Papelbon choked Bryce Harper to add insult to injury.

With Papelbon set to close in 2016, Storen was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. The Nationals would lose faith in Paps and acquire closer Mark Melancon at the trade deadline.

A vagabond lifestyle and arm injuries have plagued Storen since, though he did resurface in Philadelphia Phillies camp this year.

One wonders had management have given Storen a little longer leash, or shown some faith in him, would he not still be closing games in a Washington Nationals uniform.