With more help, Doolittle hopes this is the year he avoids IL

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Sean Doolittle first reached the big leagues in June 2012, and over the next 26 months he managed to make 168 relief appearances without suffering an injury that cost him anything more than a couple of days.

Then, one day in August 2014, he strained his right intercostal muscle and thus began a long streak of annual trips to the injured list. A six-year streak, as a matter of fact.

Each of the last six seasons, Doolittle has spent at least two weeks on the IL. He's had shoulder injuries and side injuries, toe injuries and knee injuries. Each spring he reports to camp hoping this will be the season he makes it all the way through the finish line on the active roster.

"We were close last year," the Nationals closer said. "And given the workload that I had, especially in the first half of the year, I think that says a lot. We're on the right track."

Indeed, Doolittle really did enjoy his healthiest season in a long time in 2019. He made it until Aug. 18 before going on the IL with tendinitis in his right knee, a legitimate ailment, but also a convenient excuse to give his fatigued arm a break.

And once he returned, Doolittle returned to top form, making nine appearances in September and nine more in October, straight through the World Series.

Yet it might also have been the most grueling season Doolittle has ever experienced, because the often disastrous state of the Nationals bullpen forced him to take on the kind of workload few relievers are ever asked to accept.

During the season's first half, as experienced late-inning arms like Trevor Rosenthal, Kyle Barraclough and Tony Sipp crashed and burned, it was Doolittle who seemingly had to take the ball every single night to give his team a chance to win. He appeared in 46 of the team's first 108 games, seven of those appearances covering multiple innings.

There were nights when Doolittle knew he probably shouldn't be pitching. But he also knew he had little-to-no choice but to tell manager Davey Martinez and pitching coach Paul Menhart he was good to go out of obligation to a team that might have collapsed altogether without his services.

"Yeah, but that's kind of the life of the reliever," he said. "And it was never anything where I thought: 'If I pitch tonight, I'm an injury risk.' It's more like: 'I don't know how much is in the tank tonight.' "

At a certain point come August, there wasn't much left in that tank. After a string of rough outings that saw him give up 12 runs on 16 hits (seven of those homers) in nine games, Doolittle conceded he was hurting and needed time off.

The Nationals placed him on the 10-day IL with tendinitis in his right knee, an injury that may have sounded odd to those who assumed the issue was his arm but wasn't odd at all to a pitcher who understands fatigue comes in many forms.

"There are days when you can't go, and it's not because of your arm," Doolittle said. "You're stiff and you can't get your body in the right position. Or you have no explosiveness. You just have kind of a general lethargy about your body, 'cause of a heavier workload.

"It's all really closely tied together. And if your body's feeling tired, if your legs are feeling tired, then your arm is going to try to pick up the slack and carry more of the weight. Then you put more stress on your arm. In the long run, you do that a few times and you start to develop bad habits. That can lead to injury, as well. It's all really tied together."

By that point, the Nationals had acquired Daniel Hudson. That allowed them to ease Doolittle back in once he returned in September, and for the two of them to share the load in October.

This time around, the team believes it has assembled a far deeper bullpen that should take a lot of the weight off Doolittle's shoulders. Hudson was re-signed for two years and $11 million. Will Harris, one of the most consistently effective relievers in baseball the last five seasons, signed a three-year, $24 million deal. Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo believe Tanner Rainey and Wander Suero are ready to assume higher-profile roles, and that Hunter Strickland and Roenis Elias are ready to return to pre-injury form.

"I just think we have a group here that we can share the load more evenly and spread things out," Doolittle said, "so we don't have to ride one guy."

So maybe the lefty won't have to appear in so many games this season. Maybe he won't need to enter in the eighth to escape a jam and then return for the ninth to close things out. Maybe he'll even be more willing to speak up and declare himself unavailable to pitch on days when he just doesn't feel like he's got enough left in the tank.

Well, maybe not that last point.

"It really stinks to have to go to the manager's office and be like: 'I need a day off,' " he said. "Your competitive nature takes over. There's guys in here that are grinding every single day. You want to be out there with them, and you want to try to help in any way you can.

"I only kind of know one way to do it. I only have one gear. I want to pitch. And I've spent so much time on the injured list throughout my career, if I feel like I can be available, I want to be available."