The Nationals will no longer utilize Blake Treinen as the closer for the time being, manager Dusty Baker told reporters including Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com (Twitter links). Washington will utilize Shawn Kelley and Koda Glover in some form of ninth-inning time share.
A move in the late-inning mix seemed inevitable after Treinen struggled to find the zone last night. He has struggled quite a bit in the early going, allowing five earned runs on ten hits while allowing six free passes to go with his seven strikeouts.
Though Treinen is still working in his typical velocity range and producing loads of grounders, the contending Nats evidently don’t feel he’s ready to turn it around in the ninth. Presumably, the club will look to utilize him in the setup role in which he thrived last year.
Kelley and Glover could each stake an individual claim to the job, but the preference seems to be for a mix-and-match approach. The former has continued to rack up an outstanding K/BB ratio — presently, 13.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9) — but the Nats have long said they don’t view Kelley as a regular closer option due to his history of multiple Tommy John surgeries. Baker says the team prefers not to use him on consecutive nights, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com tweets.
That could leave the door open for Glover to grab the job and run with it, if he’s able to succeed in the opportunities he receives. The skipper is still hoping to utilize a single closer at some point, MLB.com’s Jamal Collier notes on Twitter. But the 24-year-old Glover won’t get the nod outright at this stage. He not only lacks substantial MLB experience, but has dealt with some minor injury issues (per Baker’s suggestion today).
No surprise here he was horrible. Nats need Robertson for them & my fantasy team.
Yes, and the price of David Robertson is increasing as we post. Dusty wanted a proven closer this offseason and would have been thrilled with Robertson after the Nats missed out on the elite free agent closers earlier this offseason. Can’t blame Mike Rizzo here, that was all on the ownership.
Agreed. If the rumors of the WSox asking for Severino as the centerpiece were true?????? Ownership should be kicking themself. Obviously Robles and Fedde are off the table, but if I’m the WSox…..I’m setting the bar higher than an all defense non-hitting catcher like Severino
Yeah the life looks to be back on his FB. Sox probably say no to just severino right now especially since more contending teams look like they’ll need bullpen help at the deadline
dude’s got 5 ip, perhaps we should reign it in a bit. He has thrown really well, but it doesn’t take much to throw off a reliever’s stats.
The Sox are giving up Robertson for a defensive catcher. What Nats fans fail to understand about trades like these are that they hurt, but are unavoidable if you want to contend. You’re not getting an experienced closer without giving up a good young prospect or two.
They won’t touch Robertson at this point. Maybe at the trade deadline, but the Sox are going to need to come down on their asking price. That said, I don’t see the Sox doing that and I don’t see the Nats meeting their demands.
The price isn’t going down anytime soon. Robertson has been practically unhittable so far this year.
that’s assuming he can remain unhittable. He has looked great, but relief pitchers can be fickle beings.
Look at Robertson’s career stats for a dose of reality. You’re not getting any quality Sox players on the cheap. They’re trying to rebuild, not help other teams fixed they’re busted bullpens.
Maybe its time to remove Dusty.
I think you’re out in left field on that one.
Do you know what his WAE/WAR is as a manager? You won’t like it if you are a Nats fan. He loses the team more games than he wins with his managing. He was a bad choice as manager.
You’re example why fans are clueless
that statement doesn’t make sense…(?)
Yeah cuz it’s Dusty’s fault that your owner’s a cheap@$$, and your GM’s an idiot. You had a closer and you wouldn’t pay to keep him, now you have to give up prospects to get a closer. This is why the Nats are underachievers who aren’t winning a championship anytime soon. You guys are wasting all that talent on the small stuff.
Let Glover take the job and run with it. Guy has filthy stuff. Dusty hates giving young guys prominent roles.
It’ll be interesting to see how Dusty handles the more pressing issue – who gets the high-leverage innings. It’s been discussed at length how baseball is trending away from the stock-standard 9th inning closer role, and more towards using the best pitches in the higher leverage situations.
If Dusty uses Treinen as purely a 8th inning guy, he may end up pitching in some of the bigger moments anyway.
You’re talking a language that Dusty does not understand. He understands that one guy only pitches the ninth, another guy only pitches the eighth, and another guy only pitches the seventh. No guy pitches more than one inning. Dusty manages this way all season, then gets surprised when he gets bounced in the first round of the playoffs. He hasn’t learned that playoff baseball is different than regular season baseball, especially when it comes to high leverage situations.
Regarding Robertson the asking price is never too high if you have a shot at the World Series. And if you disagree you an idiot. If the Sox take the top prospects not on the MLB roster it does not matter. If you trade for him now you can make 5 wins stay wins and not become loses because of a blown save. They should of traded for him in the offseason
Robertson is good, but expecting 5 WPA out of him? Only Britton did that last year out of bullpen arms
“And if you disagree you an idiot” – this was on purpose, I hope?
Who can the nationals give the pirates for Tony Watson? Preferably an offensive player.
Robinson had a off last year, check his numbers before last year
From 2014-2016 among relievers he was 12th best by fwar and 33rd by ra-9.
2013-2015 he was 10th and 19th
There was a post a while back where fans could see this coming. Nobody believed them, but people saw the nats bullpen being a weakness of this yeam and it has proven to be so thus far.
David Robertson may be out of the nats price range but im sure the nats can find some cheap help. Im sure brad hand is available from the Padres given the emergence of jose torres.
Good look with “cheap help” in the playoffs. You guys must be a glutton for punishment.
1. SDSU- San Diego, not Washington DC in case you were confused. Think theyre a padres fan.
2. “cheap help” doesnt mean what you think……cheap probably refers to what it would cost in comparison to acquire david robertson. You look around the league and you will see plenty of options towards the deadline for relief help.
Athletics could make madson, casilla, doolittle available
Angels could make Bedrosian available
etc.
And they’d be cheaper than Robertson.
nats window for a title is now. Need to get a closer, whether that is robertson or not depends on the price. I think they should pay that price
Hello Rick Hahn, yea what’s up? Listen about Robertson, well…….good luck to nationals , a solid closer could work wonders come playoff time. Would love to see that matchup vs Cubs for pennant, so would the networks
The networks might be just as thrilled or more so with a Cubs/Mets or Cubs/Dodgers matchup that occurred in the previous two postseasons.
Not going to insult Nats fans. If they watched last years WS, they saw both teams bring in shut down bullpens from the 6th on. Nats need DRob and then some. Take it from a Bears fan that saw 1985 come and go, and a Blackhawks fan that watched 3 Cups and the window slamming closed,a White Sox fan that witnessed 2005, that when you have a chance at a championship, you sell your most prized possessions, your women and children, your beasts of burden, and yes your beautiful prospects. The price of glory!
Bochy can take a team of misfits (Giants) to the WS and win…..but Baker can’t even get to the 2nd round of playoffs with an all-star team….the problem is right there….they need a better manager like Bochy or Maddon….
As a Cub fan I’d be happy to trade managers for the 2017 season.
Dusty Baker would have a defined bullpen in Chicago with a true closer which should reduce his tendency to overuse his starters. Even if he did, two of them, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey will be free agents after the season anyway. In addition, Baker would be smart enough to have a proper Cubs lineup with Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber batting in the heart of the order. After witnessing Joe Maddon’s managing in the playoffs last year, I’d take my chances with Baker at the helm in 2017 as well.
Baker himself will be a FA manager after the season. If he fails to get the Cubs to the World Series then I’d consider promoting bench coach Dave Martinez to be the new Cub manager in 2018. He could take the best of what Joe Maddon does as a manager (communication skills, promoting defensive versatility, aggressive base running) while implementing a more sound batting order for the Cubs going forward.