Wild ride, strong showing for Doolittle in season debut

Since making the decision to sign last month, Sean Doolittle had been imagining what his first relief appearance back with the Nationals would be like.

But was this the scenario he envisioned, replacing ejected teammate Steve Cishek moments after both benches and bullpens emptied in the top of the fifth Friday night?

“Uh, no. I don’t know if you could envision that scenario,” the left-hander said with a laugh Saturday as he recalled the scene. “That was crazy.”

That’s an understatement. Doolittle was already warming in the bullpen when Cishek entered to face Francisco Lindor. He watched from afar as Cishek’s second pitch came up and in and struck Lindor near the face, then as the Mets dugout spilled onto the field in anger and the Nationals dugout followed suit.

The next thing he knew, Doolittle and his bullpen mates were running all the way in to join the not-really-a-brawl. Then as tempers were calming down, bullpen coach Ricky Bones told him to get back to the bullpen ASAP because he might need to enter to pitch if Cishek was getting ejected.

“So I had to warm up again,” Doolittle said. “It definitely got the juices flowing, though.”

As did the crowd reaction when he officially entered a couple minutes later for his first appearance as a National with fans in attendance since 2019, riding in on the bullpen cart.

“I realize the optics now of coming in on the bullpen cart right after we had this super-emotional and heated confrontation with the other team,” he said, “and here I am coming in on a circus cart? Whatever.”

Dramatic entrances aside, what really stood out at night’s end was Doolittle’s actual pitching performance. Inheriting a two-on, no-out jam in a 4-3 game, he proceeded to retire the side, getting Pete Alonso to pop out, striking out Eduardo Escobar with a 95 mph fastball and then getting Robinson Canó to ground out to second.

“This is when it really counted, and in a big moment, too. He did really well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “That was awesome to see. He felt really good after he came back. I will use him in high-leverage situations, because not only does he have good stuff, but he’s smart. He knows how to pitch in those situations. He’s done it his whole career.”

On the heels of a difficult 2020 in D.C., then a rough 2021 split between Cincinnati and Seattle, Doolittle enters this season far less of a sure thing than he was during his last stint in town. But club officials were encouraged by what they saw from him this spring, when his fastball averaged 93 mph. And Friday night’s showing only bolstered those thoughts.

“It was a good feeling,” Doolittle said. “I think I could’ve been a little bit crisper with some of the locations. But for that situation, for everything that unfolded right before it, and being able to get out of the jam without any runs, I’m really happy with it. Really good to get that first one out of the way. Now let’s get that first win.”