In need of relief: Nats will aim to bolster pen
July finally has arrived, and that means it’s time for underachieving teams out of the race to start unloading players for prospects or to lower payroll.
It’s a time-honored tradition, with rumors flying leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.
The problem is that even the bad teams in the American League remain in contention for a wild-card spot, and only six or seven teams in the National League are so awful they can’t come up with a valid argument to stay the course.
Entering Saturday, the worst team in the AL, the Athletics, were only six games out of the second wild-card spot. The NL teams out if it were the Reds, Giants, Padres and everyone except the Nationals in the NL East.
Is it hard to deal without knowing which teams will be in sell mode?
“The frenzy happens at the deadline,” Nationals President said. “That’s why they call it a deadline. Come deadline, people are forced to make decisions, and closer to the deadline it will be pretty evident who is buying and who’s selling.”
The Nationals will be buying, and their needs are obvious. They have a great lineup and four quality starters — and the worst bullpen in the league. That was evident in Thursday’s ninth-inning collapse against the Cubs.
“We’re going to look for bullpen help, be it a ninth-inning guy or an eighth-inning guy, that type of reliever, to bolster us,” Rizzo said. “I’d like to get another veteran to put people in positions where they’re more comfortable.
“It could be internally or externally. We
TOUCHING ’EM ALL recognize where our flaws are, and we certainly have shown in the past we’re going to be aggressive and address it.”
The Nationals also have lost two outfielders in who tore his ACL trying to beat out an infield hit at the end of April, and who fouled a ball off his foot in early June and is out until mid-July.
“The Eaton injury was big for us,” Rizzo said. “He was terrific leading off, and it allowed to hit second, which he was more comfortable with, and our offense was really clicking.”
Eaton is out for the regular season and most likely the postseason. But he always could try to take the route and make a comeback in the World Series, if the Nationals make it.
“We expect him to be out for the year,” Rizzo said. “He’s ahead of schedule in the rehab. We’re not counting on him, but with him you never know. He’s such a grinder, and he’s working so hard.”
Making matters worse, Turner fractured his right wrist after the Cubs’ hit him with a pitch Thursday, and he will be out for some time.
Still, the Nationals’ biggest concern could be complacency. No one figures to challenge them in the division the rest of the year, and despite the bad relief corps they still have a sizable lead.
“I don’t have any worries about complacency at all,” Rizzo said. “There are other things we worry about. That’s not one of them. It’s a very driven team, a good mix of some good young kids and veteran personalities. Werth, and they’re not going to let any complacency set in.”
came to work wearing a heart monitor Wednesday after the Indians manager experienced a racing heart Monday and had to leave the game for a local hospital, where he underwent tests. Francona has been forced to leave games twice with a rapid heart rate and light-headedness.
He said they haven’t determined what causes the episodes, though being a manager is certainly a high-stress job.
“That’s one thing the doctors certainly have talked about,” Francona told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “I’ve tried to even think if it could be (stress-related). I honestly love what I do. I’ve never once ever thought, ‘Oh, I have to go to the ballpark.’ I feel like I have been in much worse places worrying-wise.
“The doctors explained to me that your body reacts differently to things. They want to eliminate other things first, because I’ve been through so much. I’ve been on medications for the past 15 years, and they just want to make sure that nothing has changed because of that.”
Hitters sometimes think pitchers are throwing at them even when it’s obviously unintentional. Dodgers ace
had the best response after reliever hit Angels hothead in the shoulder Thursday, prompting a benches-clearing, bullpens-emptying scene in which no punches were thrown.
Morrow was upset with himself after loading the bases, and Escobar simply overreacted.
“I get it, you’re mad about getting hit,” Kershaw said. “But read the room a little bit and realize we’re not trying to hit you.”
Amen.