While MacKenzie Gore dominated, the rest of the pitching really struggled with the Phillies lineup. The bullpen allowed seven runs on seven hits and six walks in their four innings of dismal work. A combination of poor performance and some questionable moves by Davey Martinez came back to bite the Nationals.
The Nationals bullpen was a question mark heading into the season. Many people including myself were calling for veteran additions in the offseason. While they did bring in some vets in Lucas Sims, Jorge Lopez, Colin Poche, and the returning Kyle Finnegan, they did not bring in any lockdown options. None of those guys cost much money, and there is a reason why.
We saw that on display yesterday, when several of those guys struggled. Sims came in first in the seventh inning to relieve MacKenzie Gore. Maybe Gore could have stayed in one more inning, but after all it was Opening Day and he was at 93 pitches. After getting the first out, Sims quickly gave the lead away on a Bryce Harper home run.
Bryce Harper will be a Hall of Famer, so allowing a home run to him is not a massive sin. However, Sims struggled with the long ball last year and gave up three homers this spring. Hopefully this does not become a trend for the right hander. He did not walk anybody and was hitting the zone consistently, so that is a positive for the walk prone 30 year old.
Southpaw Jose A Ferrer came in later in the seventh with the left handed Kyle Schwarber coming up. However, he gave up a homer to him and was largely ineffective throughout his 34 pitch outing. I am still very high on Ferrer and think he can become a weapon for the Nats out of the pen. This was not his best display.
The cardiac king Kyle Finnegan came in for the 9th and gave us one of his signature nerve wracking outings. He did not allow a run, but struggled with command and did not look convincing.
In the 10th inning, Davey Martinez’s bullpen management was questionable at best. Lefty Colin Poche got two quick outs before walking Bryce Harper. Martinez allowed him to face righty Alec Bohm, who came through with a double. In Bohm’s career, his OPS against lefties is .871 compared to a .693 mark against righties. With righty Eduardo Salazar ready to go, this decision was a head scratcher.
Salazar eventually came in and struggled himself. Dylan Crews missed a fly ball he probably should have caught, and that made the game 7-3, out of reach for the Nats.
There is nothing close to a sure thing in this bullpen for the Nationals. Maybe Jose A Ferrer can become that, but he is still young and inexperienced. This Opening Day performance was an ominous sign for a unit that was far from a strength on paper. Jorge Lopez didn’t pitch and Derek Law will come back from injury soon, but neither of those guys are exactly Mariano Rivera in his prime.
The Nats can’t afford to waste starts like the one they got from Gore going forward. The guys in the bullpen need to step up and Davey needs to put them in spots where in the best spots to succeed. Neither of those things happened today, and it led to a loss. Hopefully this can be fixed up, or we could be in for a rough ride. In short, yes the Washington Nationals have a bullpen problem on their hands. However, it is not a totally unfixable issue.