Rachel Levitin: Solis a welcome addition to improving bullpen

Tuesday night was a tough one for Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals. He did his best to try and push through the night against the Miami Marlins but, three innings in, that was it for the night. Strasburg's right shoulder blade discomfort caused the early exit, but created an opportunity for left-landed reliever Sammy Solis, a recent call-up.

The southpaw has pitched five scoreless innings in two major league appearances since being called up and manager Matt Williams was impressed by how many strikes Solis has thrown after Tuesday's game.

Solis shut out Miami over three innings and has retired nine of 10 batters he's faced, including seven straight to finish his most recent appearance. There are two strikeouts plus two hits attached to his major league pitching line and this former starting pitcher is already leaving a positive impression on the Nats.

The emergence of Solis as a positive force within the 2015 bullpen is welcome, with a roster and lineup still settling into a groove. Especially with his bullpen predecessors, who either made a quick stint with Washington only to be sent back to the minors or are guys looking to sharpen their stuff to maintain their place with the big league ballclub.

Right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard's departure in the trade that brought infielder Yunel Escobar to the Nationals has it's pros and cons - Escobar has proven himself invaluable while leading this team both offensively and defensively through an injury-filled spring, while the bullpen struggles to fill Clippard's old shoes of being the go-to eighth inning man.

While it was less apparent Tuesday night, due to six spotless innings of work from the Washington bullpen, the Nats need to see the 'pen solidify itself as a well-oiled machine before they'll see further success. But with guys like Solis around to help tighten things up, May is likely to be a more productive and successful month than the first four weeks.

Rachel Levitin blogs about the Nationals for District Sports Page. Follow her on Twitter: @RHLevitin. She will be sharing her observations about baseball in the nation's capital as part of MASNsports.com's season-long 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.