Try to guess which of these games the Nationals won over the last few days, just based on their starters innings pitched: 7, 9, 0, 8 and 2. Pretty easy to figure out which of these games ended in victory.
The importance of getting deep into games for the Nats is very real, as it is to some degree for all major league teams. So far this season, Nationals’ starters have been at both sides of the spectrum. One day John Lannan will throw seven innings and look like a real, bona fide number one starting pitcher. On another day, their number two pitcher, Jason Marquis, will look like someone who does not belong in the MLB. His start on Sunday lasted exactly zero innings. He allowed seven earned runs without getting an out.
Games like this hold more importance to a team than just one win or loss. Consistently short starts like Marquis’ can lead to serious problems for the team down the road. Marquis’ start is the most extreme example of not going far into the ballgame but it serves as a good case study. Because he had to leave the game early, the Nationals had to count on Miguel Batista - something most Major League teams have learned is not ideal. After that the team had to use another three relievers. This kind of workload over the course of the year can make for a disaster down the line.
Short starts equate to early appearances by relievers. Too much work early in the season exhausts bullpens. If everyone in your pen is fatigued early in the season, the team is in for trouble. Bullpens in the MLB are pivotal to any sort of success. Since starters hardly ever pitch complete games anymore, a strong, rested bullpen is needed to win games. Having to trot out an unproven pitcher because your top relievers are burnt-out from picking up the pieces in a blowout game makes for a mess.
Nationals’ Manager Jim Riggleman recognizes the need for his pitchers to stay in the game for as long as they can.
“That’s the key,” he said. “You get six or seven innings and you get great matchups the rest of your night in the bullpen.”
Taking a look at the most successful teams in baseball, their starters will go at least six innings just about every game.
“At the end of the year, the teams that get seven innings or six plus from their starters are going to be in the playoffs,” Riggleman said. “And those who get five innings are not.”
The Nats have not been outright bad these last few days, merely inconsistent. So while, they got zero innings from Marquis and only two from Scott Olsen, the Nationals three other starting pitchers proved how important it is to go deep into the game. Lannan went seven innings in an 5-3 win over Milwaukee, Livan Hernandez threw a complete game shutout against the Brewers the next day and Craig Stammen went a strong eight innings against the Rockies on Monday.
“That’s what the starter is all about,” Nationals’ catcher Ivan Rodriguez said after catching Hernandez’s shutout. “Give us some innings; get us deep into the ballgame.” The Nationals bullpen has some strong components that would benefit from a string of good starts. Tyler Clippard has proven to be one of the team’s go-to-guys in the pen. Brian Bruney, who was acquired this last offseason, has an incredible arm and, when healthy, can provide strong late-inning relief. But if Clippard is going to have to come into games in the fourth or fifth inning, isn’t that just a waste of talent?
Looking ahead in the season is difficult to do, if not impossible. But predicting that a rotation that would average around five innings a start would yield a depleted bullpen, takes no crystal ball. As the manager said, if the Nationals ever want to be a playoff team down the line, a seven-inning start cannot be an aberration or cause for celebration, it should just be business as usual.
You can reach this staff writer at slindauer@theeagleonline.com.
