Off-day news and notes on the Nationals bullpen

SAN FRANCISCO – The Nationals are off today, with an opportunity to relax in Denver and contemplate all the positive developments that occurred during their weekend series triumph over the Giants before they open a three-game series Tuesday with the Rockies.

Let’s take a moment to contemplate some things as well, with a particular emphasis on the bullpen …

* Following Sunday’s 11-5 victory, the Nationals optioned relievers Sam Clay and Francisco Pérez to Triple-A Rochester. All major league clubs were required to reduce their active rosters from 28 to 26 by the end of the day, and the Nats chose to drop two left-handers in the process.

The moves weren’t necessarily surprising. Neither Clay nor Pérez made the opening day roster. Both were summoned more recently when other relievers went down. And neither did a whole lot to distinguish himself and force his way onto the roster for a longer stint.

Clay allowed five runs in four innings, giving up a homer, walking two and even hitting three batters along the way. Pérez was charged with only one run allowed over 4 1/3 innings, but he walked a whopping six of the 22 total batters he faced across five appearances.

So, the moves make sense. They do, however, leave the Nationals in a surprising predicament: They now have only one lefty in their bullpen, and it’s not even someone who is used to relieving.

Josh Rogers has been a starter most of his professional life, but now he’s being asked to pitch out of the bullpen for the first time. And not necessarily in the role most expected. There was thought that Rogers would be one of manager Davey Martinez’s long men, perhaps joining Paolo Espino as the first options out of the bullpen when a starter can’t reach the fifth inning and provide a bridge to the back end of the group.

But under the current circumstances, Martinez may have no choice but to use Rogers as a strategic matchup against the top left-handed batters from an opposing lineup. That means he could be used in the fifth or sixth inning, depending on where the opposition is in their lineup at the time. Or it could mean he’s held for some later point in the game when Martinez knows he needs a lefty to face tough left-handed hitters in a close game.

Maybe this will change if and when Sean Doolittle returns from his elbow sprain. But until then, Rogers will just have to suffice as the only southpaw in Martinez’s bullpen.

* Speaking of bullpen options, one name who has yet to join the major league relief corps is Tyler Clippard, which may surprise some. The veteran right-hander signed a minor league deal late in camp and agreed to open the season with Rochester. But the thinking all along was that he’d be ready to join the big league bullpen within a week, maybe two at most.

It still hasn’t happened, though. Clippard remains in Rochester, where he sports a gaudy 6.75 ERA and 1.929 WHIP through 10 appearances. Much of the damage against him came in one game, April 16, when he was charged with five runs allowed on two hits and three walks, failing to retire a batter. Throw out that appearance, and Clippard owns a much better 1.93 ERA.

He hasn’t been summoned yet, though, both because he’s been able to throw on back-to-back days only once so far, and because his command continues to be off. One potential reason why the latter has been true: The new pitch clock that has been instituted across the minor leagues. When a pitcher exceeds the allotted time, he is charged with a ball.

“For a guy like Clippard, who has five or six different pitches, it’s taking some adjustments,” Martinez said Sunday. “I’ve talked to (Red Wings manager Matt) LeCroy about him. He said he’s just not consistent throwing strikes. The back-to-back (outings) hasn’t been there. So we’re going to continue to monitor him, work with him. But at some point he’s got an opportunity to help us here. We’ve just got to build him up.”

* The most effective member of the Nationals bullpen to date has been Tanner Rainey, who with a scoreless bottom of the ninth Sunday made it seven consecutive appearances without allowing a run to begin the season.

Rainey has allowed six hits in seven innings, but most importantly he has issued only one walk while striking out seven.

The trouble is, there simply haven’t been any close games lately with the Nats ahead for Martinez to use Rainey like the late-inning star he seems to be becoming. Rainey is 3-for-3 in save opportunities, the last of which came way back on April 19 during a 1-0 doubleheader win over the Diamondbacks.

The Nationals proceeded to lose eight straight games after that and only bounced back this weekend to take two of three from the Giants. Along the way, Martinez has still found a few opportunities to put Rainey on the mound, and the results continue to be excellent.

* Rainey has emerged as the Nats’ closer, and Kyle Finnegan seems to have emerged as Martinez’s other top late-inning choice out of the bullpen. Finnegan, though, struggled during Sunday’s five-run bottom of the seventh. He faced three batters and walked two of them before Martinez pulled the plug and went to Steve Cishek instead.

Turns out Finnegan was dealing with a physical issue: He had a cut on one of the fingertips of his throwing hand, which Martinez didn’t learn about until he was pulling him from the game.

“I went out there and looked at Finnegan, and I felt there was something wrong with him,” Martinez explained. “I went out there to take him out, and sure enough he has a little cut on his finger. He never said anything about it. … The trainers are going to look at it. They’ll work on it and see if we can get that thing closed up.”