Throughout the spring, we will be super closely monitoring camp battles here in federal baseball. The other day we talked about the race at our fifth starter spot, and now we’ll talk about the bullpen.
Now Registration Resources The bullpen is listed as Kyle Finnegan, Jorge Lopez, Derek Law, Jose a Ferler, Lucas Sims, Colin Pouch, Evan Reifelt and Ogawashima Island. But I don’t know if the bullpen will be like that.
For me, one of the head scratchings is to include Ogasawara. The people were pretty clear about them Look at him As a starter. Between his volatile spring and lack of North American experience, I hope that Japanese Southpaws will begin their season in the AAA.
Another interesting case is Evan Lifate. He’s a rule 5 pick and would have to send it back to Tampa if he doesn’t make a roster, but he was wild this spring. Yesterday he threw three wild pitches. Such things don’t fly in the major leagues. Reifert did a good job controlling his walk last year, but he has a history of bad control and it appears that it’s back. There is Reifert. He doesn’t seem reliable enough to take over the big league roster.
If these two are off the picture, who will take their spot? There are several different options. One of the people I think is rock is Eduardo Salazar. He posted a 2.76 ERA in 26 appearances last year, but hasn’t run this spring yet. He’s not the sexiest option and has some flaws, but Salazar is the massive caliber pitcher that NAT needs in Bullpen.
The final spot is a more tricky call. There are still many different candidates. Despite his rough spring, Reifert is still an option. NAT has been reluctant to return rule 5 picks over the past few years. They are basically willing to get them to win the roster without making much contribution. But in what appears to be a step forward season, the NAT can afford to do it.
If they decide the answer, they have several different paths to explore. One of these options is the Orlando Rivalta. He dominated this spring, hitting 10 in 7.1 innings, allowing only one hit and one unfortunate run. Ribalta has fastballs from the mid-90s to the top, both with a slider and a ChangeUp that have a big time flash. If Nats send Reifert back and a traditional rescuer is needed, Ribalta is their man.
But they managed to decide to hire a long man. That way you’ll also have a few options. The loser of the fifth starter race between DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker was able to go to the bullpen. The candidate for the sleeper might be Brad Lord. He knew how to add speed this spring and always pitch. This is a bit of a long shot, but it’s going to be a fun idea. We’re seeing more and more multi-inning relievers around the league, so it would be cool to see the Nats jump on the trend. Natt needs an inning from the bullpen, especially since someone like Trevor Williams is a guy like the rotation, ideally only facing the lineup twice.
But my predictions for the bullpen are Finnegan, Feller, Lopez, Law, Sims, Pouch, Salazar, and Ribarta. But that last spot was thrown and I could see them continuing to rekindle as I didn’t want to return him to Tampa. The Washington Nationals Bullpen is a bit of a patchwork unit this year, but the folding still has many interesting names.
