For most of the season, the Washington Nationals bullpen has been abysmal. Sure, they showed signs of competency at a couple points, but overall it has been a disaster. There is a reason that they have the worst bullpen ERA in all of baseball. However, the Nationals look to have finally found a group of guys who are performing at a high level.
Lately, the bullpen has been absolute nails. Yesterday, they finally allowed a run for the first time in 19.1 innings. It came via a Jorge Alfaro passed ball
with a wild Mason Thompson on the mound. Thompson is not one of the high leverage options and the game was in a secure place anyways.
There have been a lot of valuable performers, but three guys have stood above the rest. PJ Poulin, Jose A. Ferrer and Clayton Beeter have been dominant lately. These three all have very different stories that we will talk about here. Now let’s break them down.
The Closer:
There has been a lot of talk about how dominant Kyle Finnegan has been since arriving in Detroit. However, his replacement has been nearly as good. In his last 30 appearances, Jose A. Ferrer has a 1.93 ERA in 32.2 innings. However, my favorite stat is that he has just 3 walks in those 32.2 innings of work. For a guy that throws 100 mph, that is absurd.
Ferrer does not feel like a guy who never walks anyone, but he is. For the season, he is walking just 4.6% of hitters, which is elite. Before the season, I was super high on Ferrer and thought he was the closer of the future. That looked silly in early May when he had an ERA over 8. However, he looks like that dominant future closer who gets a ton of ground balls.
One thing that I have really liked from Ferrer lately is that he is mixing it up more. Early in the year, Ferrer abandoned his slider in favor of a sinker/changeup mix. However, he has brought it back lately and it has been dominant. That slider adds whiffs to his arsenal, which he needs.
Despite throwing a 97-100 mph sinker, that pitch is more of a ground ball pitch than a whiff generator. However, the slider adds a new wrinkle. With his stuff, I think Ferrer can be a very good back end of the bullpen arm for years to come.
The Sidearmer:
Since being claimed on waivers a month ago, PJ Poulin has been such a reliable presence in the ‘pen. The southpaw is not an overpowering guy, but his whacky arm angle has given big league hitters fits.
PJ Poulin is a pure sidearmer who relies on deception to get outs. His fastball averages 90.7 MPH but it plays above that velocity. To go with that heater, Poulin has a sweeper and a changeup.
He uses the sweeper to both lefties and righties, but it is relied on more against lefties. Poulin uses his changeup exclusively against righties and it works like a charm. Despite having the look of a lefty specialist, right handed hitters have actually had a tougher time against him due to the changeup.
Poulin has been Mike DeBartolo’s biggest success story so far. He was a 29 year old who had never pitched in the MLB. However, DeBartolo saw something in him when he was on waivers. He claimed Poulin and immediately brought him to the MLB.
So far, MLB hitters have not fazed Poulin. He has a 1.59 ERA in his first 16 MLB outings. The best organizations can find guys like Poulin so they don’t have to spend big time money building a bullpen. If you can build a cheap bullpen, money can be spent on areas where it is harder to find diamonds in the rough.
The Trade Piece:
The other guy who has been impressing in the Nats bullpen is Clayton Beeter. We talked about Beeter a couple days ago if you want to read that piece. To sum it up, Beeter has dominant stuff, but can have trouble finding the zone.
Lately, Beeter has been mostly throwing strikes and letting his stuff shine. Unlike Poulin, Beeter was a known commodity. He was drafted by the Dodgers with the 66th pick in the 2020 draft and was a well thought of pitching prospect.
Beeter was traded from the Dodgers to the Yankees in a move that sent Joey Gallo to LA. Gallo was not that far removed from his Texas days at that point, so Beeter had real value. While Beeter showed flashes of dominance, he never threw enough strikes to start.
After a move to the bullpen late last year, he was shipped to the Nats as part of a move that sent Amed Rosario to the Bronx. Since coming to the Nats, Beeter has found a new gear.
In 14 outings with the Nats, Beeter has a 2.84 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. That is 11.37 K/9, which is an elite number. Sure, there have been a couple outings where Beeter just doesn’t have any idea where the ball is going. However, he has been throwing strikes more often lately.
With his filthy fastball/slider mix, all he needs to do is be around the zone. The stuff will take care of the rest. Beeter will probably always be quite volatile due to his control, but he is emerging as a piece of this Nats bullpen.
Moving Forward:
While these guys will all have bad outings at some point, they look like keepers moving forward. Another great thing about all three is that they are cheap and have many years of team control.
That is how you build a good bullpen. You need cheap, controllable guys to be core members of the unit. Buying a bullpen can be a bad investment because of how volatile the position is. However, if you can cycle through these cheap guys, you can build an effective pen. That is what teams like the Rays have been doing all these years.
It is good to see the Nats finally adapt and churn through relievers until they find a good one. For every Ryan Loutos and Eduardo Salazar, you can find a PJ Poulin. I like the direction this Nats bullpen is going and think it can help make the unit better long term. For a long time, the bullpen has been a problem for the Nats, but with some new strategies, that might change.
