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CHICAGO – At some point last month, Cole Henry said, the members of baseball’s worst bullpen came to an important realization.
Nobody outside the Nationals believed that group was capable of being good. Perhaps that might even have been true for some people within the organization. And given the unit’s lack of experience – 25-year-old Jose A. Ferrer was the only reliever on the staff with more than a year of big league service time – there was nothing for anybody to lose at that point.
“Just looking around, we’re kind of all in the same situation,” Henry said. “Ferrer has the most time out of all of us. It’s kind of like, we’re all in this together. Let’s make something out of it and see if we can finish the year strong.”
You won’t believe what’s happened since. Over the last three weeks, the best bullpen in the major leagues has belonged to the Washington Nationals. Yes, the Nationals.
The pertinent starting point is Aug. 20, when four relievers combined to toss 3 2/3 scoreless innings and preserve a 5-4 win over the Mets. Prior to that game, the Nationals bullpen ranked dead-last in the majors in ERA (5.82) and WHIP (1.549). In 17 games since, that group ranks first in the majors in both categories, delivering a sparkling 1.97 ERA and 1.005 WHIP.
“Those guys have been nails,” said rookie right-hander Brad Lord, who spent most of the first half as a reliever before joining the rotation in July. “The past month or so, if you come out with runners on base, you can fully expect them to get out of the inning without letting anyone score and just throw up zeros the rest of the game. They’ve been really awesome.”
It’s easily the most unexpected development of this disappointing year for the Nationals. There are countless reasons why they fell apart in the first half, leading to the firings of general manager Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez, but high on the list is the bullpen.
Things were so bad, Rizzo wound up releasing all three veterans he signed to one-year deals during the offseason, with Jorge López, Lucas Sims and Colin Poche combining for an ERA north of 9.00. There were midseason additions who made a positive difference, most notably veterans Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia, but both were dealt to the Angels at the trade deadline by interim GM Mike DeBartolo.
And when closer Kyle Finnegan also was dealt to the Tigers on July 31, the remaining eight-man bullpen featured nothing but young and inexperienced arms, with Ferrer suddenly the new closer of a makeshift bunch.
Highly erratic when he was setting up Finnegan, unsure which version would show up on any given night, Ferrer has become lights-out since taking on the closer role. Including Sunday’s scoreless ninth in the Nats’ 6-3 win over the Cubs, the lefty has now pitched 15 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a run, going 7-for-7 in save opportunities while delivering a remarkable 14-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
How did he get so much better while taking on a higher-profile role?
“I’ve got to give huge credit to my teammates and the coaches,” Ferrer said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “And I haven’t said this, but especially Luis Garcia, the reliever. Since the day we signed him, he helped me a lot with the mentality to go out there and just have fun, whether it’s during practice or during the game. He’s been a huge help.”
Though Miguel Cairo publicly named Ferrer his closer after the Finnegan trade, the interim manager hasn’t been afraid to take the less-conventional route and have Ferrer pitch the eighth inning when the matchups line up better. That has opened the door for Henry, a rookie starter-turned-reliever, to close out two games himself, including Saturday’s 2-1 win at Wrigley Field.
“Kind of the same as any game going in: Try not to make it any bigger than it is,” the right-hander said of his mindset when thrust into the ninth inning. “Just go through my normal routine, get loose and get ready to go.”
The contributions have come from many more bullpen arms. Clayton Beeter held a nine-inning hitless streak until surrendering an RBI single to Seiya Suzuki on Sunday. Even so, he bounced right back and struck out three of the next four batters he faced. PJ Poulin boasts a 1.56 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings since debuting last month. Jackson Rutledge, whose ERA resided in the 6.00s for most of the summer, has now tossed nine consecutive scoreless innings. Even Shinnosuke Ogasawara, who looked overmatched in two major league starts, has found new life in the bullpen, holding left-handed hitters to a .103 batting average over his last 12 games.
“I think everyone going out there and putting up zeros is kind of contagious throughout the whole bullpen,” Henry said. “No one wants to be the guy to mess it up, so everybody goes out there mentally and physically ready to go. We just take pride in ourselves and our work, try to put zeros for our team and hopefully we win a lot of ballgames.”
It is, of course, way too little and way too late to salvage the season. In spite of this recent surge, the Nationals still own the majors’ worst bullpen ERA at 5.31.
But the feeling is far more optimistic today than it was not that long ago. And given how young everyone in the group is, there’s reason to believe several of these relievers could not just help finish out this season on a high note but position themselves to return next season and ensure the Nats’ 2026 bullpen enjoys far more success than the 2025 version did.
“Those guys never gave up,” Lord said. “We could’ve cashed it in a couple months ago, but they still come to the field every day willing to work, willing to get better. It shows in the outings. They’re doing everything right, and they’re having great success.”
