After showing some signs of competence, the Washington Nationals have the worst bullpen in baseball again
In April and early May, the Washington Nationals bullpen was a well documented disaster. Night after night, the likes of Lucas Sims and Colin Poche were blowing games. However, once we got deeper into May, the Nats bullpen was looking alright. Not good, but fine. However, the radioactive meltdowns are back for this Nationals bullpen.
Last night, the Nationals bullpen was looking like it did in April. They managed to allow seven runs in just two innings, turning a 2-1 lead into an 8-2 loss. It was a disaster where many parties have to hold some blame.
After losing the title for a while, the Nationals are officially the worst bullpen in baseball again. Their bullpen ERA now sits at an MLB worst 5.93. The Nats have a couple reliable options, but there are way too many black holes in this bullpen.
For some reason, Davey Martinez decided to use all of his worst relievers in the 7th inning of a close game. Regular high leverage options Jose A. Ferrer and Cole Henry should have been available. Both threw only 13 pitches the night before and both had two days off before that.
It’s legitimately a nightmare every single night Davey Martinez pulls the starting pitcher and decides which arm to pull out of the bullpen
Costs the Nat a win more than half the time
Up 2-1 in the 7th, need every win we can get and Davey puts in Brzykcy and Salazar…
2-6 now pic.twitter.com/8aDOpliTIk
— (@Krabs_Bets) June 29, 2025
Yes, Henry hasn’t been as sharp lately and you never know what you will get out of Ferrer, but those guys were clearly the best options. Brad Lord was unavailable, so those two guys should have been used as the bridge to Kyle Finnegan.
Instead Davey Martinez turned to Zach Brzykcy and Eduardo Salazar. Both have struggled all season and last night was no different. Despite having some impressive movement on his fastball, the pitch has not been effective for Brzycky. He has now allowed six homers on the heater after Mike Trout took him yard on one last night.
Salazar almost escaped the inning with the game tied. With guys on first and third, he got his first two hitters out before imploding. He allowed an RBI single to Christian Moore before the light hitting Kevin Newman took him yard. After him, Ryan Loutos came into the game and he struggled because he is not an MLB caliber pitcher.
In the bottom of the 8th, with the game out of reach, Jackson Rutledge came in and continued his recent struggles. Rutledge showed some promise early in the season, but has really been roughed up lately. His season ERA now sits at 6.03 and is at 9.00 in his last 15 outings.
A bullpen with this many liabilities is a recipe for disaster. You can have a weak link or two, but you can’t afford to have four guys you can’t trust. It leads to meltdowns like this and overuse of top guys.
A lot of people have been hoping the return of Derek Law could help this unit out. However, I am pessimistic about him right now. He has been rocked in his rehab starts and his velocity is way down. It also looks like he had a recent setback. After a massive work load last season, he might never be the same again.
His velocity from Rochester the other day vs. where he was at last year…
Cutter: 87.9 (last year: 91.5)
4SFB: 91.8 (last year: 95.1)
Slider: 83.9 (last year: 87.3)— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum_) June 28, 2025
We are back at the point where the Nationals need to do some experimentation to fill out the bullpen. Most of the guys in Rochester have not performed well, but one guy who has is lefty Konnor Pilkington. It might be time to give him a shot. Loutos would be an easy 40 man casualty who’s exit would give him a spot.
The options are not great and there will be more meltdowns like last night, but it is clear the Nats bullpen needs change. Relying on guys like Brzykcy and Salazar in tight games is a recipe for failure. With all the other problems the Nats have, they can’t afford to have the April bullpen come back.