Drew Storen

What really goes down in the bullpen

by Drew Storen

And we're back. Sorry its been too long, it has been a busy couple of weeks. Lots of things have been going on. Thanks for all the Twitter feedback, sometimes it's hard to tell what you all want to read about.

A lot of you have asked about all the trade talk. I am real happy that I am still here. No offense to Minnesota, but I want to be here in D.C. and help take the Nationals organization where we want it to be. Trade talks are just part of the baseball business. I understand that it isn't anything personal and was not anything that I could control, so I tried not to sit around and stress about it.

Bill Scheft, a very funny writer and good family friend, asked about our bullpen discussions during a game. This is a great question because there is a brotherhood among bullpen guys. When you are together for so many hours throughout a season, you tend to know a lot about a fellow bullpen member, which is one cool aspect about being a reliever.

Mid-game discussions are a big reason for this. For the first couple of innings, depending on how the game goes, we sit and watch the game just like the fans. We talk about everything, from whether the guy was safe or out, whether Tyler Clippard is really that good at singing or what we want to eat after the game.

When we see the starter is getting into trouble or as the pitch count rises, things turn into business down in the bullpen. We then start to do our own things. We all have our certain stretches or little routines before we pitch. I usually start stretching in the seventh inning. The more I can stretch out before I throw, the less sore I will be the next day.

As a reliever, you have to be able to switch gears quickly in order to prepare for the game. We always joke that the phone ringing in the bullpen automatically raises our heart rate. If I had the bullpen phone ringer on my cell phone, I would never have to hit the snooze on my phone alarm.

So this off day is almost a wrap. My buddy Andy and I hit up Fogo de Chao and then went to Georgetown. We shot some video, so we'll see how it turned out. Maybe another video blog option. If you want another Clip cameo in a video blog, shoot some ideas to me on Twitter: @DrewStoren.