The season's about to start, and one of the big concerns Nats fans have is the state of the bullpen. Chad Cordero's signing with the Mariners only emphasizes how different this year's pen will be than the one that helped lead them to a surprising finish in 2005. All those names are gone, replaced by a bunch of no-names.
But is it something to worry about?
Yes and no.
Oleanders and Morning Glories certainly thinks it's not something to worry about. He points out that the quality of bullpens fluctuates quite a bit -- no bullpen was either truly good or terrible from 2005-2008.
Some years your guys get out. Some years they don't.
The Nats have a bunch of guys with potential. But what they don't have is that one true relief ace -- the guy you know that can come in and lock the other team down.
Perhaps Joel Hanrahan can be that guy. He pitched well in the closer's role, showing that he was finally learning how to harness the big fastball in a way that he couldn't when he was starting.
Saul Rivera's been the perfect non-descript reliever for a few years. You hardly notice him because he just comes in, throws his inning without mucking things up, then leaves. While the mileage on his arm could cause some worries, why can't he be an average reliever?
Beyond him, you've got Steven Shell. He won't have a 2.16 ERA again, but he should be able to keep it to around 4. Mike Hinckley showed potential as a left-handed specialist.
Perhaps not being jerked around will let Jason Bergmann relax and the lesser workload will keep his elbow healthy enough so he can snap off those sharp breaking pitches that make his fastball look so good.
There are plenty of options. Besides, spring training stats don't definitely tell you much.
And with the way the starting pitching depth chart looks, aren't there bigger problems to worry about?
Chris Needham used to write Capitol Punishment. He wonders where Joe Horgan went.
