"O-lineman of baseball": Nats' young relievers growing together

ATLANTA – The Nationals bullpen has been the most inconsistent and disappointing group to start the season. Entering yesterday’s finale against the Braves, Nats relievers owned the second-worst ERA in the majors.

The group is still trying to mesh together. A few relievers have landed on the injured list and two that started the season on the roster are no longer here, with an outside addition joining a couple of weeks ago.

But while the established veterans continue to get a majority of the high-leverage innings, there is a new young core forming in the Nationals bullpen.

Cole Henry, Jackson Rutledge, Brad Lord and Zach Brzykcy are starting to get more chances to prove themselves as reliable options to pass the ball to the back end of the ‘pen. And they are enjoying the opportunity together after coming up through the Nats system at the same time.

“I think it's been really cool just to have all these guys that we came up together,” Henry said on Wednesday at Truist Park. “We're pretty good friends with each other, and it's just been awesome to have those guys with me all every step of the way. We were actually just talking about it yesterday, how cool it is that a few years back we were all down in Florida together and just got drafted or signed. Just dreaming about the day that we would be here. And now it's here. It just seems surreal.

“But yeah, it's really cool. We like to take pride in being able to come in after each other. Whether it be saving runs for each other or just keeping the ball rolling on putting zeros up. We're enjoying our process and learning on the fly. Besides Brzykcy, we were all starters at one point. So it's been cool just to be able to see how everyone goes about being a reliever. It's been awesome.”

All four relievers are 26 years old or younger, with Rutledge being the oldest and most experienced of the bunch. And all of them are hand-picked, homegrown farmhands.

Rutledge was a first-round selection in 2019. Henry was a second-round pick in 2020. Brzykcy was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Virginia Teach that same year after the pandemic-shortened draft. And Lord was an 18th-round pick in 2022.

And as Henry alluded to, three of them are still adjusting to being full-time relievers.

Rutledge and Henry were considered to be a part of the Nationals’ future rotation when they entered the system. But a lack of major league success and injuries lowered them down the starting totem pole.

So this past offseason, the organization made the decision to switch them to relievers.

Lord was a surprising revelation last year on the farm and pitched well enough in spring training to earn a spot in the Opening Day ‘pen.

The three of them have been leaning on each other – and the others who are used to relieving – to make this adjustment.

“We've been kind of just picking each other's brains on routine and different things like that,” Henry said. “It's been cool to see how we've all grown as a reliever and just as pitchers in general. You're still doing the same job, even if you're starting or relieving, right? So just got to get outs and put zeros on the board and keep your team in the game and keep it close. So it's been awesome. Can't really explain just how cool it is to have all these guys with me.”

“I brought all the young guys in here today because they have done well,” manager Davey Martinez said Wednesday. “We've had some guys that we moved their roles; they were starters that we put in the bullpen for the first time this year. And they've really handled themselves really well. But it is a new routine for them, so I wanted to make sure that one, they were all OK, how they were feeling. And two, that their roles have changed and they continue to change. So some of these guys have been put in some high-leverage situations and really handled themselves well. So the growth there has been great. I told them today we're going to continue to do that, use you, so be ready. But be honest with me. Let me know when you need a day. We'll try to get you a day. Because it is a tough role to come out every day and be ready.”

That has been one of the biggest adjustments for the starters-turned-relievers. As a starter, you’re used to your four days of rest in between outings. As relievers, you’re not really sure when your name will be called. It can be on back-to-back days (something Henry did for the first time this week against the Braves) or it can be over a week in between outings (as it was for closer Kyle Finnegan before his 13th save Wednesday night).

“It's been different, for sure, just not having that recovery time in between outings and stuff,” Henry explained. “But it's just part of being a reliever. You want to be available all the time, right? You want to be able to be able to pitch every single game and have a hand in every single thing that the team does. I think that relievers are some of the most important people on the team. They don't get as much shine. I like to call us the O-lineman of baseball. You don't ever really get noticed until you mess up, right? So it's sort of the same deal. You have to be doing really good to get noticed or really bad to get noticed. So yeah, we just try to keep it a day at a time and a pitch at a time and just keep going out there and keeping our team in it.”

Change is always difficult. It’s a little less difficult when you go through it with some of your close teammates, with strong veteran leadership guiding you along the way.

“They've been awesome together,” Martinez said. “Rut and Henry are really close to begin with, even off the field. They work well together. It's a testament to how the veteran guys have handled them. The Finnegans, now with (Andrew) Chafin out there, even Lopey has taken those guys in. Ferrer, who's been around for a while, he's kind of stepped up a little bit on that role as well. So it's a good group. It really is. And I think they've helped them out with their routines a lot knowing that they've done it. Especially Finnegan, who has come out of nowhere, really, and become a really good closer for us. He knows what it takes to go out there every day and prepare every day.”