Nationals Bullpen on a Roll Despite Ranking Dead Last in Major League Baseball
When it comes to the Washington Nationals, some performance trends can be ignored, including their overall record.
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The Nats will enter Monday's game hosting the Philadelphia Phillies owning a record of 32-38. But over their last 21, Washington has played better than most teams, going 14-7 over this span.
Their bullpen has also improved dramatically during that time frame. It just hasn't been enough to pull the Nationals out of the cellar thus far.
In 2019, the bullpen has combined for a 6.27 ERA. But this is not a reflection of current performance.
From FederalBaseball.com:
After giving up five runs in the bullpen on the 24th of May, the Nationals’ relief corps has a combined 3.66 ERA, the National League’s second best earned run average in that stretch, the lowest FIP (3.70), fourth-lowest BAA (.226), lowest WHIP (1.12), third-lowest BB% (6.7%), and the second-highest K% (26.7%).
What’s been different over the last few weeks?
“I think they’re attacking the strike zone,” Martinez said. “They’re making pitches. But, you know, they’re being more aggressive. I don’t see them nitpicking like I did before, I mean they’re going after guys. It’s nice. And they have the stuff to do it, I love it. They’re engaged and they’re working really hard.”
While the bullpen has pitched well, the UNDER has occurred only three times in the last ten Washington has played in. They have permitted five or more runs in six of their last ten. There was a stretch of three road games where they allowed no more than two runs we would be remiss in noting.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
