FanPost

Bullpen Mismanagement, Mediocre Start Put Martinez on Hot Seat

S2JQJWSPJEI6TPNXIT4URTAGAU.0.jpg

Coming into the 2019 campaign, there was a level of pressure on Nationals’ manager, Dave Martinez, but not enough where it was at the forefront of all topics. After all, weeks before the season, Bryce Harper joining the Phillies was the biggest news followed by a feeling of excitement around a new lineup centered on the speed, talent, and potential of youngsters Trea Turner, Juan Soto, and Victor Robles. Throw in the fact that the Nats acquired a top shelf pitcher in Patrick Corbin to solidify the rotation, and things seemed pretty rosy.

Fast forward about a month and we know the story of the season thus far. Mismanagement of the bullpen, underwhelming play against inferior opponents (See: Miami Marlins), and a general lack of direction with the club. Martinez is good at defending his players, and there is a reason that several have supported him – both past and present. But success in sports is based on wins and losses; not loyalty.

This is the harsh reality, and while Martinez might be a nice guy to have in the clubhouse in some capacity, it is becoming clearer with every passing loss, every passing blunder in management, that he is not the right man for the job of leading this team and should be relieved of his duties.

The latest head scratcher came yesterday, in the third game of the series at Colorado. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Nats fell behind 6-3. In the eighth inning and on the verge of losing their second straight road series, Martinez opted to go with Trevor Rosenthal and his 40+ ERA. If this was a low leverage spot, and the Nats were down 7 runs, it would have been understandable to try and use the time to get Rosenthal some work. However, this lineup is capable of scoring runs in bunches – especially in a park like Coors Field. A comeback was not out of the question.

Rosenthal went on to get further humiliated - three wild pitches, a hit batter, a walk, and a double in an inning that ended with the Rockies up 9-3. It didn’t matter that Matt Adams helped get the score closer after driving in two runs in the 9th because at that point, the game was out of reach.

Afterwards, Martinez looked befuddled when repeatedly asked about the impact on the rest of the team's morale when Rosenthal is used and effectively blown up. His response? Rosenthal, "threw the ball better."

He went on to say, "We got to get Rosie in the game. We got to see what he can do, and at this point he just doesn’t look right right now. So we got to figure something out. I know we need him. But we have to figure out what’s going on."

No – that’s what spring training is for. Contenders do not have the luxury of trying to "figure something out" 23 games into the season and a sub-.500 start.

The Rockies game was a microcosm of the Nats under Martinez, which is looking to end with the same result as last year’s mediocre 82-80 result. Some flashes of talent and scoring early, bullpen mismanagement later, blown lead, mini-comeback, and a confused, deer in the headlights look by the skipper post-game.

The Nats need to decide what their end goal is. If they are trying to win a division that promises to be competitive through the last game of the regular season, then Martinez has to go. This is a franchise that has committed over half a billion to starting pitching, yet is gun-shy about spending on bullpen relief (or extending Anthony Rendon, but that’s a topic for a different day). It’s ironic in some ways that after letting Dusty Baker walk after "only winning division titles", they opted to go with the experiment of a bench coach with no prior managerial experience, and then also commit to him longer than previous managers.

There are people more qualified with better knowledge and experience than Martinez to lead this ballclub – Buck Showalter comes to mind. Regardless of who manages the team, it can’t be Martinez moving forward unless mediocrity, underachieving, and a high payroll is something that Mark Lerner is content with.

An 11-12 record isn’t the worst position to be in, especially when you’re only 1.5 games out of first place, but if this record turns into something like 15-20, there would be no further justification for keeping Martinez at the helm.

All FanPosts on FBB consist of content created by site users without editorial oversight by Federal Baseball, and do not necessarily represent the views of the FBB editorial staff.