Bullpen answers probably need to come from outside
If the Nationals are serious about an unexpected playoff push, they're going to have to seek relief help from somewhere beyond their own organization
Gut-punch losses like tonight’s 5-4 calamity against the Phillies – even more so than Tuesday’s gut-punch loss – lead to obvious questions about late-game bullpen management.
Why didn’t Blake Butera leave Orlando Ribalta in to face Justin Crawford with two outs and a runner on first after the right-hander issued a 10-pitch walk to Kyle Schwarber, instead of asking Richard Lovelady to face pinch-hitter Derek Hill?
“Part of it is not overextending Ribalta,” the Nationals manager explained. “He missed some time earlier this year due to injury. He has been kind of battling some stuff there. He obviously gave it everything he had for those three hitters. Long at-bat with Schwarber there. He emptied the tank on Schwarber. And I liked the matchup of Lovelady on Hill more than O on Crawford there, given what he had to work through. Obviously, it did not work out.”
Why not intentionally walk Schwarber, then, saving Ribalta from throwing 10 extra pitches and leaving him fresh enough to face the far-less-imposing Crawford with the game on the line?
“No,” Butera said. “We never like the matchup with Schwarber, of course. We’re not just going to put the tying run on.”
Why continue to trust Lovelady, whose peripheral numbers haven’t been good all season, in big situations? Why prioritize lefty-lefty and righty-righty matchups over simply using the best-available reliever, no matter which arm he throws from?
We can go all night, and undoubtedly many of you have been up all night asking these same questions to yourself and wondering when anything will change?
But there’s a simpler, harsher truth that has to be accepted as this unexpected 2026 season reaches its official halfway point: The Nationals bullpen just isn’t good enough to get overly worked up about matchups and late-game managerial decisions.
