Nathan contends for role with Nats
When Joe Nathan began to throw live batting practice Wednesday, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo started his golf cart and drove it all of a few yards, just to get a little closer. Dusty Baker, Dan Jennings and Bob Boone leaned against the cage, just behind catcher Jose Lobaton, to get a better look. Many of the former and current scouts in the Nationals front office hovered somewhere around Field 3 as Nathan started to throw. At 42, the man with the second-most saves of any active pitcher is the ultimate curiosity for a team without a clear ninth-inning man.
Neither Rizzo nor Baker nor anyone else knows exactly what they are going to get, so they press their noses to the fence and take note of his delivery. They do not expect to find a closer in Nathan and his twice-repaired right elbow. But maybe, just maybe, they will find someone to bring experience, wisdom, and late-inning depth to their bullpen.
“Everybody keeps talking about he’s 42 years old, but he doesn’t have a 42-year-old arm since he’s been operated on a couple times, and he certainly doesn’t have a 42-year-old body,” said Baker, who managed Nathan as a 24-year-old rookie and admitted he is rooting for him now.
Nathan is as affable as he is tall, with a pleasant perspective on the game after 16 seasons spent at its highest level. He is listed at 6-foot-4, and came to camp as lean and toned as any of the younger, lesser-known pitchers whose lockers surround his. He chose number 74 because he was born in 1974, two decades before some of his neighbors in what might as well be called the “nonroster invite corner” of the Nationals’ new clubhouse.
The righty has 18 times as many saves, with 377, as everyone else in that clubhouse combined, more than all but seven pitchers in history. But he does not necessarily need to re-emerge as a lockdown closer to provide value to these Nationals, who could use a proven ninth-inning guy but seem content to break in a new one.
“(Nathan’s) a proven late-inning guy, so he’s got to be considered for that,” Nationals pitching coach Mike Maddux said. “A spot in the pen, late in the game. That’s what I see him competing for.”
Nathan was not sure if he would return after his second surgery in April 2015. He said coming back to pitch in the majors was not his ultimate goal in the immediate aftermath of the procedure. Getting healthy was. If he could pitch in the big leagues again, great. If not, he wanted to be healthy enough to play catch with his son.
So Nathan pushed through rehabilitation, fighting to beat his doctors’ suggested 18-month timeline. Eighteen months of rehab would allow Nathan to return sometime in October, after the 2016 major league season ended. Eighteen months of rehab, therefore, would have left Nathan waiting and wondering through an entire winter.
“If I didn’t pitch last year, I think it probably would have been near-impossible to sign on with a club coming into this year,” Nathan said. “So I just pushed it ahead a little bit, and fortunately my arm responded to it.”
Nathan spent time with the Cubs and Giants last season, and he did not allow a run in 6⅓ big league innings while pitching to a 2.35 ERA in 15⅓ minor league innings. His fastball averaged just more than 91 mph during that brief big league stint, according to FanGraphs. Nathan’s career average velocity is just more than 93.
A few curveballs Nathan threw Wednesday sputtered away in the dirt. A few fastballs sailed. But a growing number of whispers around the newly minted fields are conveying the same sentiment: Nathan looks good. His delivery is smooth. Most importantly, there’s life to the fastball, though Maddux said he has yet to try to get a read on Nathan’s actual velocity.
“For a guy that was hurt, you’re not really looking at location as much as you’re looking for how it’s coming out of his hand,” Baker said after Nathan threw in the bullpen earlier this week. “But he has both. Joe’s looking good. He’s looking very good, actually.”
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