A camp battle to follow is the race for the last few spots in the Nationals ‘pen
Throughout the spring we will be monitoring camp battles very closely here at Federal Baseball. We talked about the race for the fifth starter spot the other day, and now we will talk about the bullpen.
Right now Roster Resource has the bullpen listed as Kyle Finnegan, Jorge Lopez, Derek Law, Jose A Ferrer, Lucas Sims, Colin Poche, Evan Reifert, and Shinnosuke Ogasawara. However, I am not sure the bullpen will end up like that.
One head scratcher for me is the inclusion of Ogasawara. The Nationals have been pretty clear that they view him as a starter. Between his shaky spring and lack of North American experience, I would expect the Japanese southpaw to start the season in AAA.
Another interesting case is Evan Reifert. While he is a Rule 5 pick and would have to be sent back to Tampa if he doesn’t make the roster, he has been wild this spring. Yesterday he threw three wild pitches. That kind of stuff will not fly in the big leagues. Reifert did a good job controlling the walks last year, but he has a history of bad control and it looks like it has come back. The stuff is there with Reifert, he just does not seem reliable enough to carry on the big league roster.
If those two are out of the picture, who would take their spots? There are a few different options. One guy who I feel is a lock is Eduardo Salazar. He posted a 2.76 ERA in 26 appearances last year and has yet to give up a run this spring. While he isn’t the sexiest option and has some flaws, Salazar is a big league caliber pitcher, which the Nats need in the bullpen.
The last spot is a trickier call. There are still a number of different candidates. Despite his rough spring, Reifert is still an option. The Nats have been reluctant to give back their Rule 5 picks in the past couple years. They have been willing to let them basically take up a roster spot without contributing much. However, in what is supposed to be a step forward season can the Nats afford to do that.
If they decide the answer is no they have couple of different avenues they can explore. One of those options is Orlando Ribalta. He has been dominant this spring, striking out 10 in 7.1 innings, only allowing one hit and one unearned run. Ribalta has big time stuff with a mid to upper 90’s fastball as well as a slider and changeup which both have big time flashes. If the Nats send Reifert back and want a traditional reliever, Ribalta is their guy.
However, they could decide to employ a long man. If they do that, they have a couple of options as well. The loser of the race for the fifth starter between DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker could go to the bullpen. One sleeper candidate could be Brad Lord. He has added velocity this spring and has always known how to pitch. While this is a bit of a long shot, it would be a fun idea. We are seeing more and more multi-inning relievers around the league, so it would be cool to see the Nats jump on the trend. Especially with a guy like Trevor Williams in the rotation, who ideally only faces a lineup twice, the Nats need innings out of the bullpen.
However, my prediction for the bullpen would be Finnegan, Ferrer, Lopez, Law, Sims, Poche, Salazar, and Ribalta. However, that last spot is a toss up, and I could see them keeping Reifert around because they don’t want to give him back to Tampa. The Washington Nationals bullpen is a bit of a patchwork unit this year, but there are still plenty off interesting names in the fold.