And now, it’s time for Deep Thoughts about the Washington Nationals.
The Washington Nationals have one of the worst bullpens anyone has ever seen at the Major League level. It’s the worst in the Majors right now and who knows when we’ll see another bullpen this awful. [Next year, same place?] To take but one example, Joe Beimel has an ERA over 9 since coming back from the DL. The rest of them are not doing much better. Yet while all this goes on, a promising relief pitcher toils in AAA ball instead of helping the team in Washington. He’s Ty Clippard, a big, hard-throwing 24-year-old who has 31 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched and an ERA of 1.32 in 15 games. Left-handers are hitting .093 off him. He hasn’t given up an earned run in his last 7 innings pitched. Is he great? Probably not or he’d be in the Majors by now. But how could he be worse than what the Nats are using in the bullpen right now? Why not give Ty Clippard a chance? What does this awful team have to lose?
Which number will be higher by the end of this season: the number of wins for the Nats or the number of home runs for Adam Dunn? Right now, the big slugger leads 16-13.
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