By Jordan Long
The Washington Nationals sit at 13-17, 4 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for 1st place in the National League East Division. They are also 4 games back in the Wild Card race. For their struggles they have decided to fire pitching coach Derek Lilliquist and promote Minor league pitching coordinator Paul Menhart.
The Nationals total team ERA is 4.82, 23rd in all of baseball. The starting pitching ERA is in the middle at 4.30. The starters are doing their job and keeping Washington in games. They don’t leave the ball up in the zone for home runs, giving up 23. Starters are able to pick their spots and strike batters out. They lead the league in strike outs with 203.
When it comes to the bullpen, they are the 2nd worst in all of baseball with an ERA of 5.87. Once manager Dave Martinez makes a switch to take a starter out, the bullpen isn’t keeping Washington in games. The relievers are walking batters with a total of 44. After that happens, a base hit will score a run to either increase the opponents lead or allow them to take the lead, not a recipe for success.
It was time for a change. According to USAtoday.com Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said, “We felt that both the rotation and the bullpen, we thought that we had some flaws in there. We thought that there (were) preparation issues in there and we thought that we wanted to get a new message and a new voice.”
The Nationals needed to make this move. Pitchers weren’t improving which cost Lilliquist his job. Menhart has his chance to help the pitching. During games when Nationals’ pitchers are struggling, he must talk to them. It may calm the pitchers down which could help them refocus and keep the Nationals in the game.
The Nationals are hoping this move works. They are not far out of the playoff race but if pitching doesn’t improve, that could end their season. They hope adding Menhart to the coaching staff will be the answer to saving their year. ent 5; \lsd
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