Washington Nationals win arbitration case vs. Kyle Barraclough, who gets $1.725M for 2018...

Washington’s Nationals are now 8-3 in arbitration cases since baseball returned to D.C. in 2005, having “prevailed” in their case with new reliever Kyle Barraclough, who came over this past October in a trade with the Miami Marlins. The two sides weren’t too far apart in their respective salary figures going into the process, with the 28-year-old right-hander’s side seeking $2M while the team offered a raise to $1.725M from the $1.113M he earned in 2018.

Barraclough’s case was the second with the Nationals this winter, after the arbitration panel ruled in the team’s favor in deciding that Michael A. Taylor should get $3.25M instead of the $3.5M he was looking for after earning $2.525M in his fifth major league season in 2018.

Barraclough, in his fourth major league season, put up a 4.20 ERA, a 4.98 FIP, 34 walks (5.50 BB/9), 60 Ks (9.70 K/9), and a .194/.325/.350 line against in 55 2⁄3 innings pitched in 2018, leaving him with a 3.21 ERA, a 3.45 FIP, 5.52 BB/9, 11.48 K/9, and a .189/.316/.291 line against in 218 ²⁄₃ IP so far in his big league career.

It was the first winter of arbitration-eligibility for Barraclough, who was acquired in return for international bonus slot money.

That was the second trade of the reliever’s career, after a 2015 deal between the St. Louis Cardinals, who selected him in the 7th Round of the 2012 Draft then dealt him to Miami.

As the Nationals noted in their press release on the deal that brought Barraclough to the nation’s capital, since the start of the 2016 campaign, Barraclough is ranked 11th among National League relievers in opponent’s slugging percentage (.295), 12th in K/9 (11.53 K/9), and 14th in opponent’s batting average (.198).

Barraclough got off to a strong start last season, putting up a 0.99 ERA through his first 37 outings and 36 ¹⁄₃ IP, holding opponents to .085 AVG, a .212 OBP and a .162 SLG over that stretch, but in a rough few months that followed, he gave up 22 ER in 24 appearances and 19 ¹⁄₃ IP (10.24 ERA), with opposing hitters putting up a combined brutal .349/.472/.605 line against him.