Earning their manager's trust
Blake Butera showed his faith in the pitching trio of Zack Littell, Andrew Alvarez and Richard Lovelady over the course of a tight, 3-2 win
There is very little that matters to a major-league ballplayer more than the trust of his manager.
When the game is on the line, does the manager leave him on the mound or in the batter’s box? Does he remove him at the first sign of trouble? If a teammate gets into a jam, who gets the call in the bullpen to bail him out?
Over the course of 45 games with the Nationals, Blake Butera is starting to reveal through his words and actions who has earned his trust. And sometimes that trust is earned during the course of a game, something that was on display a few times during tonight’s tense, 3-2 victory over the Orioles.
This was another one of those cobble-it-together nights for the pitching staff. Zack Littell got the start. Andrew Alvarez was designated as the bulk reliever who would follow Littell. After that? It would depend on how the game was going.
In the end, Butera had reason to show faith in both Littell and Alvarez, who combined to toss eight scoreless innings and put their team on the precipice of victory. And then when it nearly all came undone in the ninth, he put his faith in Richard Lovelady to record the final out of a game that became much tighter than it appeared it would be to that point.
