Davey Martinez needs to trust guys like Cole Henry and Jackson Rutledge in high leverage over fading veterans
It has been well established that the Washington Nationals bullpen is a dumpster fire. They have the worst bullpen ERA in baseball. Newcomers like Colin Poche, Lucas Sims and Jorge Lopez just aren’t the answer out there. However, the Nationals have a couple young relievers in Cole Henry and Jackson Rutledge who could be part of the solution.
Like most relief pitchers, Henry and Rutledge are both failed starters. However, they failed for different reasons. With Henry, it was purely health related. He was dominant on the mound after being a second round pick out of LSU. However, he simply was not on the mound enough.
Since being drafted in 2020, Henry has only been able to muster 130.1 Minor League innings. Henry had to have the same Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery that ended Stephen Strasburg’s career. However, it looks like Henry has bounced back from the surgery and has found his stuff.
In his first three big league outings, Henry has gone 2.2 innings with four strikeouts. The stuff has looked super crisp. After Colin Poche made yet another mess of things, Henry cleaned it up and got back to back strikeouts. The fastball has a lot of life and he throws a filthy curveball off of it. Those are his two main pitches, but he has a sinker and changeup as well.
Cole Henry already has the look of at least a medium leverage bullpen arm. One thing is for certain, he is an upgrade on the likes of Lucas Sims and Colin Poche. The Nats need to monitor his work load and avoid overusing him because of that injury history, but he has always been a stud when he has pitched.
On the other hand, Jackson Rutledge is a failed starter because of poor performance. After being a first round pick in 2019, Rutledge posted an ERA above 5 in over 400 minor league innings. After a dreadful 2024 in Triple-A, the Nats decided to make the 6’8 right hander a relief pitcher.
So far this transition has been smooth for Rutledge. He has made four appearances where he has posted a 3.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 7 innings. The walks are high, with five, but he has time to figure that out.
The Nats have used Rutledge in a multi-inning mop up type role, but I think the Nats could use him in higher leverage situations. For me, Rutledge looks sharpest in that first inning of his outings. His breaking balls look sharper and the heater has more life. He also loses some command as he gets deeper into his outings.
Rutledge has been leaning heavily on his cutter and slider, using the breaking balls over 50% of the time. Some cutters are more like fastballs, but Rutledge’s is more like a slider in its movement profile, while the slider is almost like a sweeper. Both have generated whiff percentages over 40%.
While his heater is in the mid-90’s, it has pretty bland shape, so it is easy for hitters to pick up. That is why I love him using those breaking balls as well as a splitter. Like Henry, I think he is ready to be a middle reliever and maybe more down the road.
Jose A Ferrer and Kyle Finnegan give the Nats a solid 1-2 punch at the back of the bullpen. However, the problem has been everyone else. Jackson Rutledge and Cole Henry could provide some of the answers. Even if they are unproven, they deserve chances over guys like Sims and Poche who are both erratic and hittable. The Washington Nationals need to freshen up their bullpen, and Jackson Rutledge and Cole Henry can be part of his bullpen revival.