Koda Glover battling back from torn labrum in hip

When hard-throwing Koda Glover burst onto the scene last summer, his unshakable demeanor and plus stuff immediately had people talking about him as a future Nationals closer. Never mind that he went from Single-A to the majors in less than a full season.

Glover had a 2.63 ERA through his first 12 relief appearances before he hit a significant bump in the road. The eighth-round selection in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft struggled mightily in September, posting a 7.20 ERA in his final 10 outings.

When the Nats shut him down in the season's final week, it was assumed it was because Glover had hit the proverbial wall. Turns out it was something much more serious.

Pitching against the Mets' Yoenis Cespedes on Sept. 13, Glover suffered a torn hip labrum. He didn't know it at the time - and gave up three runs in four subsequent outings before his season was prematurely halted - but pitched through the pain until he couldn't take it any longer.

"I tore it," Glover said Saturday at Nats Winterfest. "I felt it then, but I continued to pitch, didn't want to be taken out of the game. It progressively just kept getting worse. In Pittsburgh, it was to the point it was making me sick. Every time I was landing, it felt like an ice pick going in my hip."

An MRI following his final appearance of 2016 on Sept. 25 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh showed the damage. It also demonstrated some of the mettle the Nationals like in the 23-year-old.

"That's just my mindset growing up. I was told if you're not bleeding, you're not hurt," Glover said. "I kept pushing through it and I shouldn't have. I finally sat down with Mad Dog (pitching coach Mike Maddux) and stuff, went over it, got an MRI and found out I had torn the labrum in my hip."

Even with a significant injury to explain his steep descent after a strong start to his major league career, Glover refuses to use the injury to defend way he pitched in the season's final weeks.

"I don't want to say it's the reason why I pitched bad late, because it's not," he said. "When you're not able to get over your front side like normal and things are aggravating you as far as that, and you're so conscious that you're thinking, 'This is painful,' instead of focusing on pitch to pitch, yeah, I think it affects you a little bit."

Given the choice of rehab or surgery to repair the hip labrum, Glover opted for extensive rehab. It's not just one offseason, either. He'll gladly trade lifelong rehab if it will spare him the possibility of hip replacement surgery. Now he's using the injury that short-circuited a promising first stint in the bigs as a major motivator.

"It's actually pushing me," Glover said. "I'm not used to failing like I did there late. Mentally, I'm ready to go. I feel healthy, I feel strong. I'll begin throwing here shortly, so we'll get a good grab on it after that. I'm not a guy who gets satisfied very easy, so I'm pretty hungry to get back next year and do a lot better than I did there at the end of the stretch."

With the Nationals' ninth-inning situation unclear after the departure of closer Mark Melancon to the Giants on a four-year, $62 million free agent deal, both manager Dusty Baker and general manager Mike Rizzo have mentioned the team's three young, powerful bullpen arms - right-handers Glover and Blake Treinen and lefty Sammy Solis - as possible successors.

The Nationals are reportedly interested in free agent closer Kenley Jansen, the former Dodger. Jansen is choosing between the Nats, Dodgers and Marlins for a lucrative long-term deal.

Acknowledging that it's the Nationals' decision and not his, Glover sounded excited about the possibility of a new role in the bullpen.

"Whatever they want to do, and whatever they want me to do, I'm going to do it," he said. "As far as if they throw me in that role, am I ready for it? Yeah, I'm ready for it. But if they don't want to do that, if they want to go with somebody else, I'm perfectly fine with (that), too. I'm just going to do what they tell me to do."

Likewise, Solis isn't actively lobbying for a switch in jobs after establishing himself as a reliable and multi-faceted reliever last season. Solis posted a 2.31 ERA in 37 games and flourished in the postseason, recording a relief win and a 1.93 ERA in five games.

"I'll do whatever they want me to do," Solis said. "I like my position as a guy that can come in for a hitter or go three innings if needed. Being a closer would be a little different because that wouldn't be an option - I wouldn't be closing in the sixth, seventh, eighth and into the ninth. It's up to them. I'm open to anything. I'm definitely open to having a discussion about it, at least. We'll see what moves they make the rest of the offseason. Maybe we need a closer and I can step up and do it."