Battle For Washington Nationals Final Starter Spot Remains Biggest Question Mark
The Washington Nationals are figuring out what their team will look like to start the season, and there is one major question mark still looming on the depth chart.
Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter recently searched for the biggest roster decision each team needs to make before Opening Day, and for the Nationals, it was regarding who their fifth starter is going to be.
"With MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Trevor Williams and Mike Soroka expected to be the first four starters in the Nationals rotation, the club will be choosing between Mitchell Parker, DJ Herz and Shinnosuke Ogasawara for the No. 5 starter job," said Reuter.
The most likely answer as of now seems to be Mitchell Parker, who is coming off of an OK rookie season.
It isn't clear how high of a ceiling he has, but he looks like he could be at least a solid innings eater who can deliver solid performances.
The 25-year-old has had a decent spring, nothing too far off from how he looked last year.
Over 12.1 innings, he has a 3.65 ERA with a 2.9 BB/9 and 5.8 K/9. He doesn't walk many batters, but his stuff is fairly easy to hit and he doesn't strike batters out.
His best pitch is his slider, but he only threw it 10% of the time last year.
Perhaps incorporating it more into his mix could mean better results. His curveball also looks a bit better this year.
The argument to go with DJ Herz would be that he has the potential to be a dynamic pitcher, but the results haven't been there this spring.
He has a 6.52 ERA over 9.2 innings. The most concerning numbers, though, are a 8.2 BB/9 and just 3.7 K/9. His velocity has been down, which could be a large factor.
The 24-year-old struck out 106 batters last year in 88.2 innings while walking just 36.
Where did that pitcher go?
His stuff has potential, but he needs to find his groove again. That is why he is likely to start the season back down in the minors. He is an exciting player, but just doesn't look playable right now.
Shinnosuke Ogasawara is an interesting case.
He hasn't been dominant in Japan, but certainly looked much better than he has this spring.
He has a 7.56 ERA in 8.1 innings with a whopping 2.520 WHIP. His H/9 is up to 17.3 and his BB/9 is at 5.4. It is a small sample size, but he has been getting lit up at the plate.
The 27-year-old looks like he needs a bit more time to adjust to MLB batters.
Luckily, he has some minor league options, so he can work that out there before making his regular season debut.
