Matt of Matt's Bats: Trying to fix the Nationals bullpen

The Nationals bullpen has been struggling. The most recent example of how the bullpen has cost the Nats a win was the Thursday game in Milwaukee, where the bullpen gave up too many hits to ruin a 5-1 lead. Last year, the Nationals bullpen was very good, but they had Craig Stammen (out for the rest of this year with an injury), and Tyler Clippard and Jerry Blevins (both traded in the offseason). Now the Nats bullpen sports a collective 3.61 ERA, which ranks 10th in the National League and 20th in the majors. The Nats have used 14 relievers this year, not including the unusual appearance of position player Clint Robinson pitching in the Arizona game.

As of right now, the Nationals bullpen is made up of Taylor Hill, Felipe Rivero, Blake Treinen, Matt Thornton, David Carpenter, Casey Janssen and Drew Storen. This isn't a bad bullpen; it's just not a great one, and not one most fans would want to take into the playoffs. The Nationals need a bullpen that can give them a better than average chance to win close games if their excellent starters can't go seven or eight innings.

Storen, the closer, has saved 19 games so far and is having a career year. The other highlight of the bullpen, Matt Thornton, has been a thorn to opposing hitters, sporting a 2.20 ERA and 11 strikeouts. Basically, everyone else who isn't named Drew or Matt has been struggling. Besides these two (and Tanner Roark, who I'm considering a starter since he has replaced Doug Fister for the time being), almost everyone else has an ERA of 4.00 or higher. This may be due to a lack of experience, because Treinen, Hill and Rivero are all rookies who made their major league debuts either this year or last year. Only Storen was on the team for the full 2014 season.

Recognizing this weakness, the Nats have already taken steps to bolster to their bullpen. On Thursday, the Nats acquired David Carpenter from the Yankees in exchange for aspiring shortstop prospect Tony Renda. The trade gives them a veteran middle reliever to replace Aaron Barrett, who went on the disabled list the same day. Carpenter, however, is also having a down year and had an ERA of 4.82 with the Yankees.

A rumor started last week that the Nationals are in talks with the Cincinnati Reds to trade for star closer Aroldis Chapman That's a deal that would make sense for both sides. The Nationals cannot compete for the World Series with a weak bullpen and the Reds do not need an elite closer since they're already 12 1/2 games behind in the National League Central. It's the same reason the Braves traded Craig Kimbrel to the Padres this year.

Any bullpen that has Chapman is better than one that doesn't, but the Nats already have an All Star-quality closer this year with Storen. They really need help on the front end of the 'pen. If the Nats do land Chapman, Storen would probably move to a set-up role and Chapman would close. Then you'd have Janssen for the seventh inning, as well as Roark as the long man, Thornton as the LOOGY, and Carpenter and either Treinen or Barrett. (Joe Ross, who replaced Stephen Strasburg in the rotation, has been excellent and he could also take a bullpen spot). The others would either be sent down to the minors, or could be part of a trade. Adding an elite closer would improve the front end and back end of the bullpen at the same time.

What if the Nats can't acquire Chapman? Well, let's look at other trade possibilities, focusing on some great relief pitchers who are either on non-contending teams or who will be free agents in the next couple of years. Of course, there's Tyler Clippard, a 2016 free agent, who the Nats traded to Oakland in the offseason. Maybe there's a shot at getting him back. From his time with the Diamondbacks, Matt Williams probably likes Brad Ziegler, who's also a 2016 free agent. Ziegler has a 1.61 ERA with eight saves this year. There are some attractive closers currently playing for last-place teams, like Koji Uehara of the Red Sox, David Robertson of the White Sox, Jonathan Papelbon of the Phillies, Francisco Rodriguez of the Brewers and John Axford of the Rockies. The Nats would be in competition with other teams with playoff hopes to land a great closer, including division-rival New York Mets.

It would probably only take one very good reliever to fix the Nationals' problems with their bullpen this year. I think it will happen before the July 31 trade deadline, and the Nats will end this season with a bullpen that gives the team and the fans a lot more confidence for a World Series run.

Ten-year-old Matt blogs about the Nationals at Matt's Bats. Follow him on Twitter: @MattsBats. He shares his views weekly as part of MASNsports.com's initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.