Nationals Bullpen Goat of the Day #3

Manny Acta's Bullpen Follies of Aught-Nine continued yesterday, although fortunately for my workload he only used two pitchers. That reduces my calculating duties to the bare minimum. Thanks, Manny!

Reliever            Effect on 
                    Win Expectancy
Beimel                 -0.946
Villone                 0.116

My initial response was that Beimel is really a one-inning pitcher, and Acta just left him in too long. But, I see an insidious poison here which I first noticed with Kensing. By a substantial majority, most times Acta brings in a reliever with the Win Expectancy between .500 and .750, they blow it. It's something of a mental issue out there, and it's probably going to take a pitcher with an infectious level of self-belief to turn this round.

In a move calculated to relieve pressure on an overworked bullpen, the Nationals brought up Jason Bergmann to replace the ineffectual Alex Cintron. Now, I've felt for a few days that Cintron might have improved a little with a bit more playing time, but that begs a few questions about where you're going to play him. Guzman's wielding a hot bat, Zimmerman is the best player, and Anderson Hernandez is already getting rests when Belliard comes in.

Thankfully, Iron Man Guzman is unlikely to miss any playing time.