The Nationals have shown interest in Phillies righty Pat Neshek, reports FOX’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link). Other clubs are interested in the veteran setup man as well, he notes, which comes as little surprise given Neshek’s affordable salary and strong work thus far in 2017.
Indeed, the 36-year-old Neshek has been nothing short of exceptional for the Phillies since being acquired in an offseason swap with Houston. Through 28 innings out of manager Pete Mackanin’s bullpen, the side-armer has worked to a minuscule 0.64 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 1.3 BB/9 and a 36.8 percent ground-ball rate. Though he’s had issues against left-handed batters in recent years, Neshek has held them to a mere .163/.205/.244 slash through an admittedly small sample of 45 batters faced in 2017. He’s had some good fortune on balls in play against lefties, but he’s also significantly dipped his walk rate against hitters that hold the platoon advantage.
Neshek is earning $6.5MM in 2017, and he’s still owed roughly $3.6MM of that sum through season’s end. While trades between division rivals aren’t especially common and are often trickier to work out, Neshek’s status as a rental likely makes it a bit easier for the two sides to align. And, it should of course be noted that the Nats and Phillies have lined up on trades in the past, with Philadelphia recently trading Jonathan Papelbon to Washington in a 2015 swap that netted the Phils right-hander Nick Pivetta.
Much of the focus on the Nationals has been on their need for an established closer, but in reality the team could benefit simply from adding multiple quality relievers. While names like David Robertson, Alex Colome and AJ Ramos may well be kicked around in connection with Washington, the Nats have seen what were perhaps projected as their top four arms — Blake Treinen, Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Joe Blanton — each post an ERA north of 5.00 this season. Deepening the relief corps as a whole, and not merely fortifying the ninth inning, figures to be the priority for the Nationals over the summer.
I know a lot of people thought their bullpen would be bad, but I thought it had a chance to be at least decent. I am shocked that all of their main four guys has struggled so much. You’d think at least one would’ve been able to step up and be a shut down guy.
That’s how fickle relief pitchers can be from season to season.
Why would it have been bad?
A rookie with 20 mediocre innings and Joe Blanton were 2 of their 4 best options. That doesnt exactly scream amazing
Was Blanton bad last year?
He wasn’t bad but he wasn’t great either.
Joe Blanton was a quality reliever for the Dodgers the last two years. Shawn Kelley was among the best set-up mean in baseball in 2016. Kahnle and Knebel were no more established than Glover. Blake Trienen had two fairly decent, mediocre years prior to 2017. So, no it doesn’t sound amazing, but you were looking at more like mediocre than terrible.
How was Treinen’s 2016 mediocre? And Blanton only pitched in relief for LA one year, 2016. He started for them several years before that.
Wrong… Blanton was solid out of the pen for two years in LA
2.5 ERA and 55 hits in 80 innings sounds better than mediocre.. I think you could make an argument that without Blanton, LA doesn’t win the division. After Blanton and Kenley, who else was reliable and healthy?
Which years?
baseball-reference.com/players/b/blantjo01.shtml
Blanton threw 57 innings of relief in 2015. He was mostly terrible in 18 innings as a starter that year. He was also a reliever in 2016.
Treinen’s 2016 was mediocre in the sense that his numbers strongly suggested that his ERA was not sustainable, but rather fairly dependent on luck. While Treinen may have a skill for dialing up the double play, his K rate was too low to support the his comparatively high walk rate.
He didn’t pitch for LA in 2015. He pitched for Kansas City and the Pirates.
It may have not been sustainable but that’s irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what he did in 2016, not what he was likely to have done in 2017 based on his 2016 numbers. I agree that it would have been unwise to expect more of the same but his 2016 was exceptional, in no way mediocre.
I told you shawn kelley would not last as a closer
If he had one of his normal seasons he would’ve
Neshek for Tyler Watson and Grant Borne
Pat is a tremendous reliever… I enjoyed watching him pitched while with the A’s…
Could the nationals be the mystery team looking at sonny gray as a closer?
Back to the Twins…