Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal’s hellish early season start continued Sunday when he failed to retire either Met he faced, walking one and hitting another. Rosenthal also threw a pair of wild pitches and totaled just one strike during his seven-pitch outing. Worse, the 28-year-old hasn’t recorded an out against any of the nine batters he has gone against this season, making him the first pitcher since 1995 to achieve that ignominious feat, Jon Heyman of MLB Network notes. Rosenthal, who missed all of 2018 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, expressed confidence in his health Sunday and his chances of eventually escaping this slump, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com. Meanwhile, asked if the Nationals can continue to put Rosenthal on the mound, manager Dave Martinez said: “We have to come up with something. We have to figure something out for him. We tried to tweak something with his mechanics, but we’ve got to keep working on it.”
Martinez added the Nationals are “going to need Rosey,” who was their most noteworthy bullpen addition of the offseason. Thanks to a successful run with the Cardinals from 2012-17, Rosenthal’s earning a guaranteed $7MM this season with Washington, which took a chance on him in the wake of his injury. His return has gone about as poorly as possible thus far, of course, though Rosenthal’s hardly the lone problem in the Nationals’ bullpen. The unit entered Sunday with a league-worst 10.02 ERA and nearly blew a 12-1 lead before hanging on for a 12-9 win.
More from the NL…
- Although Rockies owner Dick Monfort seems interested in extending left-hander Kyle Freeland, the two sides haven’t engaged in talks yet, Heyman reports. Colorado just extended righty German Marquez for a guaranteed $43MM – a number Heyman regards as “an obvious floor” for Freeland, who’s in his final pre-arbitration season and has three years of control left thereafter. Freeland, 26 next month, made a major case for long-term security in 2018, in which he amassed 202 1/3 innings of 2.85 ERA pitching and finished fourth in the NL Cy Young race.
- While the Brewers are reportedly keeping an eye on the majors’ two best free agents, closer Craig Kimbrel and starter Dallas Keuchel, it doesn’t sound as if they’re expecting to sign either hurler. Assistant general manager Matt Arnold told Jim Duquette of SiriusXM on Sunday that the Brewers “do not foresee any additions at this point” from the outside. That may have something to do with the possibility that the Brewers, who are already running a franchise-record season-opening payroll of $122MM-plus, don’t have the spending room left to sign either player for anything close to what they’re seeking. Kimbrel’s current asking price is unclear, but there’s no doubt it’s lofty, while Ken Rosenthal reported Saturday that Keuchel may be looking for a deal in the $18MM-per-year range.
- The Cardinals demoted highly touted righty Alex Reyes to the minors Saturday, but they don’t plan on having the 24-year-old come back as a starter this season. Building up Reyes’ workload is “not even close to on our radar,” manager Mike Shildt told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sunday. Rather, Reyes will typically total two innings and 30 to 40 pitches per Triple-A appearance, Goold explains. The goal is for Reyes to function as a late-game, multi-inning reliever when he heads back to St. Louis, though there’s no timetable for his return to the majors, Goold reports.
Seems like the Nats could use Kimbrel. That bullpen is a mess.
You could replace Nats with a lot of teams right now.
Maybe you could but the nationals are the very front of that group
It’s the hair.
Why you dont give someone 8 million based off a nice bullpen
A nice bullpen session and a nice career in STL…Still a 1/3 of the total cost of Joe Kelly who received 25MM for a nice postseason
Padres sure could use a guy that could go 7 every fifth day. Shame 3/5th of their starting rotation will be on innings limit this year.
We got 3 other young guns to take their place…Lamet, Allen, Nix…
Nix will probably get tjs
Lemet won’t be back until the end of the year but will have inning restriction
Allen on a innings restriction
Outside of Richards coming back next. What veteran anchors and leads the team.
Ignominious. I’ve only read that one other place. Good choice!
Ah, for those days this winter when signing Rosenthal was considered a “coup”…..it was, for Rosenthal……hark! I see a 10 day IL stint (real or phantom) approaching….
Ah what the heck, it’s early yet…..The Mariners look like the ’27 Yankees, the Red Sox like they’re playing for the first pick in the draft…….the Cubbies are a holy mess, the Yanks are finding their infielders at the bus station….the Rays look like the ’90s Braves, the Brewers just do everything right (until Hader’s arm falls off)….
Admit it, it been a fun 10 days…..good year a-comin’……
Don’t forget Tigers’ Shane Greene looks like Lee Smith reincarnation.
Oh ya!…always been a fan…hope he keeps it up…helps the rebuild….
And kudos to the O’s for staying above .500 for the week (might be that last time for a while)…..
“…..at the bus station.”
LOL!
Well done sir
To infinity and beyond.
So, what has Derrick Lilliquest done for the NATS lately?
Hope Cards don’t squander Reyes’ potential as a starter. Watched it happen with both Chapman and Iglesias here in Cincy, we got to see glimpses of how amazing they would’ve been as starters only to be steered into closers
I don’t think you have to worry at this point. Reyes is returning from a major injury and will be under a major innings limit this year, anyway.
Besides, the Cardinals have a history of sometimes starting off their starting pitching prospects in the Major League bullpen until a rotation spot opens up: Wainwright, Lynn, Martinez, as well as Hudson just last year, etc.
Man after seeing Reyes dominate during his handful of starts he made in STL, I hate to see him being locked to the bullpen. If he can get straight though, I could see him as a deadly late inning guy
What else is Trevor going to say? “Hey, I suck.”
It would be nice if the Brewers BILLIONARE owner put some of his own money into the team.
Claiming he made no money on last years playoffs is a joke that’s not funny. He is W. Huizenga 2.0. He is totally taking advantage of the nice people of the Midwest…..
Cain and Yelich. NLCS. Did you watch baseball last year?
122 million payroll and he’s crying poverty…..
I hear you Jorge. Except for one thing; look at how the Cubs turned out after 2015 when they lost the NLCS. They’d probably want the Heyward signing back. Definitely Darvish. Maybe the Quintana trade. Bottom line, Brewers fans have a right to gripe if they do not spend the next couple years while they have a strong core at this point. Plus, if they accept all options for 2020 they will be at a payroll over $170-mil.
I do hear you. If there was a team ready to strike it would be Milwaukee.
It’s a record breaking payroll and the team needs to operate in the black. Spending doesn’t equate to winning either.
Sour grapes man
Jorge, you’re viewpoint is extremely shortsighted since owners and GMs also need to consider the long term ramifications of signing a play like Kimbrel or Kuechel to a long term deal for $18MM annually. A contract like this could hamper a small market team from being able to afford to extend or resign their own players like Yelich, Shaw, Hader, Burnes, Peralta, Woodruff or Nelson (if he can get back on track).
It’s hard to agree with your statement when one of the smallest markets has boasted a payroll ranked around #15 over the past decade. Mark A. Has never shied away from spending money when he believes the player can push them into playoff contention. Kyle Lohse was one one example of him pushing the GM to sign a player he thought would help them contend. Although it didn’t work out it still shows his willingness to open his wallet. Cain, Grandal and Moose are all more recent examples. Just because he’s not willing to continually operate in the red doesn’t mean he’s doing a disservice to the city or Milwaukee. He’s also spent significant money enhancing the fan experience at Miller Park and through charitable donations to the community. I would easily consider Mark a top 10 MLB owner for the overall job he’s done building a competitive team and sustaining it.
Think you said it all sir and thank you. Its early in the season but I believe this team is set up very well with depth if people start struggling or injuries
Where do I begin?
1. Save some payroll for a midseason acquisition, not for an overpriced starter or reliever.
2. Save some money to extend Yelich and Hader.
3. Attanasio put $60 million (of his own money) into renovating Maryvale so it is now one of the top (rather than bottom) spring training facilities in baseball
4. Is your memory so short that you have forgotten the underachieving Selig era, and the lack of spending on talent?
5. Comparing the current Brewers (NL Central champs) to the Huzienga-era Marlins is a joke, speaking of jokes…
6. Milwaukee still the smallest market in the majors (especially for broadcast revenue) and its high attendance for the population base attests to the job that Mark A. has done.
$100M to Acuna is a snuff contract? How about a sniff (the roses) contract. The young man is guaranteed wealth beyond his dreams – no matter what.
Reyes just hasn’t displayed a swing and miss fastball since his return. I am a huge fan, and expect him back soon, but the reality is his secondary stuff, while excellent, still plays off his fastball, which hasn’t had the explosiveness once shown. Whether his spin rate has lessened or what, he hasn’t quite returned to form with the heater.
The Brewers don’t need an anchor around their neck for several years to come by signing either Kimbrel or Keuchel for multi-year deals. The odds are against anyone staying good for that long.