Don’t Look Now: The Nationals Bullpen (finally) looks like a strength

By: Jonathan Yuhas

The Washington Nationals bullpen has always been a major weakness, especially in 2019 and 2020. In 2019, the Nats bullpen posted the worst Earned Run Average (6.34) in the MLB that season by a wide margin. It ranked as the sixth-worst bullpen ERA of all time. (Stats from MLB.com)

It seems as though every season, when the trade deadline comes around, the Nationals desperately seek the aid of bullpen help via trade. An example of this would be the 2017 effort of trading for Sean Doolittle, Brandon Kintzler and Ryan Madson. In 2018, the Nationals made a midsummer deal for Kelvin Herrera as well. Then in 2019, the team added Daniel Hudson, Roenis Elias and Hunter Strickland at the deadline. 

Each season these trades hardly seem to be fruitful, as only Doolittle and Hudson truly made an impact on the Nationals during their time here.

This is a trend in the District that needs to be broken, and appears like it finally will be in 2021. MLB bullpens typically carry seven relievers, so that is how I will be applying these predictions. I believe the likely Nationals 2021 bullpen goes as follows:

CL: Brad Hand

SU: Tanner Rainey

SU: Daniel Hudson

MR: Will Harris

MR: Wander Suero

MR: Kyle Finnegan

LR: Austin Voth

CL = closer; SU = setup; MR = middle reliever; LR = long reliever

There is not a single spot in this relief corps that any Nationals fan shouldn’t have a sense of optimism for. The bullpen has a perfect mix of age with veterans in Hand, Harris, Hudson and Suero to go along with the young guns in Rainey, Finnegan and Voth. Rainey and Finnegan in particular were the lone bright spots of the Nationals 2020 bullpen. Rainey posted a 2.66 ERA and Finnegan had a 2.92 ERA. Rainey had been battling an injury in 2020 but Martinez expects Rainey to 100 percent by Opening day. 

For the older guys, Hand is coming off of a phenomenal 2020 season, and the Nationals are hoping that Harris and Hudson can return to their 2019 form.

Arguably the most underrated piece of the Nationals bullpen this year would have to be Suero. He had a mediocre year last season, but the movement on his pitches is undeniably nasty. Suero’s statistics are slowly starting to improve as the years go by, and as he continues to control his pitches. He is set to have a breakout year. He is performing well in spring training and his control appears to be much better.

Look for the Nationals bullpen to break out this season as a strength. The bullpen appears to have the best depth it has had in years. All of the members of the bullpen, along with the competition brought in for this spring training, (Ryne Harper, TJ McFarland and Ben Braymer), make this bullpen all the more sturdy. Nationals fans should be left feeling optimistic, especially in our late inning options to complement our incredible starting pitching.

Cover Photo Credit: MLB.com