Roark heads into contract year in need of a rebound

As our offseason coverage kicks into high gear, we're going to review each significant player on the Nationals roster. We continue today with Tanner Roark, who labored through a ragged season.

PLAYER REVIEW: TANNER ROARK

Age on opening day 2019: 32

How acquired: Traded from Rangers with Ryan Tatusko for Cristian Guzman, July 2010

MLB service time: 5 years, 55 days

2018 salary: $6.475 million

Contract status: Arbitration-eligible in 2019, free agent in 2020

2018 stats: 9-15, 4.34 ERA, 31 G, 30 GS, 0 CG, 180 1/3 IP, 181 H, 90 R, 87 ER, 24 HR, 50 BB, 146 SO, 10 HBP, 1.281 WHIP, 1.9 fWAR, 3.0 bWAR

Quotable: "Most of the time it's something very small that you can turn into something way bigger, and then it grows from there. And you keep thinking about it and how to change it, and it keeps growing and growing, when it's just something small." - Roark on his struggles this season

2018 analysis: Roark entered the season with something of a chip on his shoulder. Bypassed for the entire National League Division Series the previous fall, the right-hander tried to channel his frustration into motivation for this campaign. And he was successful at that for a while.

Though he rarely benefited from run support (leading to 2-4 record), Roark posted a 3.17 ERA and .198 opponents' batting average through his first 10 starts. But then, as was the case for plenty of others on the Nats roster, he went through a disastrous stretch as summer arrived. Over his next 10 appearances (nine starts), he was an abysmal 1-8 with a 7.11 ERA, with opponents batting .346 against him.

Roark was at a complete loss for answers during this stretch, at times sounding utterly defeated. He watched old video in search of a key mechanical tweak he could make. He worked extensively on the timing of his delivery, making sure everything was in sync. In the end, he was able to get himself back on track for a while, thanks to what he insisted was plain old confidence in himself again.

Trusting that his stuff was good enough to get hitters out, Roark went 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA and .204 opponents' batting average over a seven-start stretch and briefly got his season ERA back under 4.00. But he didn't pitch well in September (13 runs in 15 innings), and wound up not appearing at all in the season's final two weeks after his wife gave birth in Atlanta to the couple's third child.

2019 outlook: It's perfectly fair to say that Roark's struggles were a major factor in the demise of the Nationals' once-dominant rotation this season. And it's also perfectly fair to suggest that his return to reliability will be key to the group's return to success next season.

Here's the problem: This is now back-to-back disappointing years for Roark, and he has posted ERAs of at least 4.34 in three of the last four seasons. These struggles used to look like outliers, but they're now starting to look like the norm for a pitcher who owns a career ERA of 3.59 without having ever owned an ERA in the 3.00s for any of his six major league seasons.

Roark turned 32 earlier this month, so he's no youngster anymore. He also knows what kind of pitcher he is at this point: a guy who relies on location and movement to be successful, not power. In today's game, which emphasizes hitting the ball in the air, it's becoming tougher for pitchers who try to stay down in the zone to be effective. That adds to Roark's challenge.

This will be a particularly important season for Roark, by the way, because it's going to be his contract year. He'll be hitting free agency for the first time at 33, hardly an advantageous position for a pitcher. Not that he ever lacks for motivation, but Roark will have no shortage of reasons to try to bounce back in 2019.