Much Maligned Nationals Bullpen Has Settled In As Team Finds Success

The Washington Nationals entered the year with hopes of being a surprise postseason challenger based on the talent of their young core of hitters.

The Nationals' youthful group, led by James Wood and CJ Abrams, has exceeded even some of the most optimistic projections set for them.

Despite this and the success of staff ace MacKenzie Gore, Washington still sputtered out of the gate in a major way.

The team's bullpen was the worst in the Major Leagues for a long while, and much of April was spent seeing leads evaporate in the late innings as the number in the loss column grew higher and higher.

On May 13, the Nationals lost 5-2 to the Atlanta Braves. It was their seventh straight loss, and it dropped their record to 17-26.

At the time, Washington's bullpen held an ERA of 7.07, tied for No. 30 with the Los Angeles Angels.

Over the past two and a half weeks, the Nationals have gone 10-4 to get back into the periphary of the National League Wild Card race.

In that time span, the bullpen has a 3.02 ERA, good for seventh in MLB.

Which Washington Nationals Relief Pitchers Are Causing Improvement?

Getting this bullpen to a better place has been a group effort.

Since the May 14 win that snapped the losing skid, there are five Washington relievers who have all thrown at least five innings with ERAs under 2.00.

That list includes Brad Lord, the former longshot to make the Opening Day roster who got an opportunity in the starting rotation. He has one earned run allowed in nine innings of work.

Star closer Kyle Finnegan has allowed just one run in his last six appearances, four of which have been saves. Veteran Andrew Chafin has struck out eight while allowing a single run in his last five innings.

Cole Henry has not surrendered a run in that span, and Jose Ferrer has done good work to eat 8.2 innings over seven appearances with a singular run given up.

It is not overly likely that this group will continue to perform like a top 10 unit for the rest of the season, but they certainly have the potential to hover around or slightly above league average.

If they can continue to do that, this campaign will certainly become the major building block on the path back to World Series contention that the organization hoped it would be.

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