Baker now has several arms to choose from in his bullpen

With the arrival of three new relievers - Ryan Madson, Sean Doolittle and Brandon Kintzler - general manager Mike Rizzo has done a nice job of retooling the Nationals bullpen. It has already made life easier for manager Dusty Baker.

On Monday night, Baker employed Kintzler and Doolittle to get the final six outs in a 3-2 Nats win over the Marlins.

But did Baker consider Madson in last night's situation?

"All three of those guys have been in those situations before. All three have closed. All three have been set-up men. So, we were flirting with bringing in Madson, but Kintzler was already hot. You hate to waste him because he was very formidable in what he does, and you still had Madson later in the game."

Baker said because he has used Doolittle a lot recently - three of the last four games - he would prefer to give him the night off tonight for game two.

"I'm not sure if Doolittle will be available tomorrow because we try to stay away from him three days in a row," Baker noted last night. "He pitched (Sunday) and (Monday). (Tonight) we still have Madson and Kintzler."

Throughout the introduction of these three new arms, all with late game experience, the questions has been asked about who will be designated the closer. Baker believes all three can do the job if called upon.

"For sure. It helps a lot when you have three guys who have been in that situation," Baker said. "Everybody is different, and everybody can't really handle that situation for whatever reason. Those three guys in particular have been in that situation many times."

It is all good right now because the bullpen is still in a state of transition from where it was to begin the season. To wit only three of the original eight relievers - Joe Blanton, Oliver Pérez, Sammy Solís - were on the Nats opening day roster. Plus, the Nats have Koda Glover, Shawn Kelley and Enny Romero on the disabled list.

This makes for some interesting roster maneuvering when the likely second season arrives the first week of October.

Is it better to have 11 or so good-to-great reliever arms for eight spots? Would the club carry more relievers in the postseason?

It would seem to make sense a starter would move over to the bullpen to be an emergency starter or really the designated long man.

But the bottom line is one or two of the Nats well known bullpen names from the beginning of the season have a good chance of not making the postseason cut.

"There's not necessarily strength in numbers, there's strength in good numbers. You can have 15 guys and if none of them can't get anybody out then you might as well have two," Baker said. "The games dictate. I don't believe just riding guys or shelving guys but I believe in putting in a role where they are most likely to succeed. You don't give up on guys that have gotten you to where you are now. But you wouldn't have had to go out and get anybody else if everybody was doing what they're capable of doing. So, it's a tough situation."

That situation makes Baker's job even more difficult when he has to call on a pitcher he used to use a ton earlier in the season, like a Matt Albers, and then maybe doesn't use him as much down the stretch. Baker addressed a similar scenario to that example at today's pregame media meeting.

"...(Y)ou can't shelve guys and say in a month from now 'hey, buddy, I didn't mean it, I'm really with you'. That doesn't work either," Baker said. "Everybody has a family, most of them. Everybody has a mouth to feed. Everybody has to make a living. Our job is to try to keep everybody healthy as possible and put them in a situation where they will most likely succeed. There are no absolutes but there are odds."