Everyone in NatsTown has been talking about "Clipp and Save" or some variation of that when talking about Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps closing games up for the Nats. All season, Clippard has been pitching gem after gem, and so was Capps... until May 23rd.
Clippard stayed great. Clippard has gotten 5 holds since May 19th and hasn't blown a save or gotten a loss since that day. In 10 2/3 innings in his last 9 appearances, Tyler Clippard hasn't given up a single run and has only given up 4 hits. He has been electric.
Matt Capps is a different disappointing story. Capps has only gotten 2 saves since May 23rd. In the same time period, he's also blown 4 saves and gotten 2 losses. Capps has watched his ERA skyrocket from 2.11 on May 19th to 3.62 today. Meanwhile, in the same period of time since May 19th, Clippard's ERA has dropped from 2.22 to 1.66. Clippard has earned and re-solidified his spot in the bullpen as the set up guy, but Capps should take a seat to give Drew Storen a shot at saving some games.
After all, that's why the Nats signed Storen 10th overall in the 2009 draft behind Strasburg. Storen has too few appearances for these stats to mean a whole lot, but here it goes anyways. In his only 10 appearances this season, he is 1-0 with 3 holds and a 1.93 ERA. He's given up 2 runs on only 6 hits in those 9 2/3 innings pitched. Oh, and he's batting 1.000. (1 for 1... even though it doesn't matter much for a closer especially.)
The Nats are in a funk, losing 5 of their last 6, including 3 of 4 to the NL-worst Houston Astros. Washington's season is falling away from them, and they're at risk of losing it entirely if some fixes aren't made. The starters have been respectable, and the bullpen is starting to fall apart yet again. It's time to fix the most glaring problem now; the fact that the team's closer cannot close a game when the starter puts him in the position to do so. It's time to give someone a chance to save a game besides Matt Capps. Bring on Clipp & Store(n).
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