The Washington Nationals’ bullpen has historically been their Achilles’ heel. Since Drew Storen’s 2012 NLDS Game 5 meltdown against the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s been reconstructed several times over, sometimes in-season. But even when it has not been responsible for an early postseason exit, the bullpen’s weaknesses have usually been exposed.
Even when the team won the World Series in 2019, manager Davey Martinez changed the way he managed the bullpen in the postseason, using Patrick Corbin in long relief and leaning heavily on Tanner Rainey, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson.
But this year, there may be a different feeling about the Nationals’ relief corps because Martinez expects to have options in the bullpen that haven’t been available in past seasons.