Time for Nats to make a decision on Rosenthal

DENVER - They've been putting this off for several weeks now, hoping beyond hope things would get better and they could proceed as they intended all along. But the time has probably come for the Nationals to do something with Trevor Rosenthal.

They can't afford to keep waiting and keep hoping. They've put Rosenthal on the mound seven times in the last month. They've yet to see him come anywhere close to throwing a clean inning of relief.

Even though there were some legitimately encouraging signs in his previous outing April 16 against the Giants, manager Davey Martinez wasn't willing to give Rosenthal the ball again for a full week. And when the opportunity finally came Wednesday afternoon in the eighth inning of what at the time was a 6-3 deficit to the Rockies, Rosenthal failed to move the needle in a positive direction.

Yes, he completed the inning. And yes, he actually lowered his ERA from 40.50 to 36.00. But in the process, he gave up three runs, allowed two hits, walked a batter, plunked another and uncorked three wild pitches, one of which nearly decapitated Nolan Arenado.

It was impossible to spin this as an encouraging performance, nor did Martinez attempt to.

"We've got to get Rosie in the game; we've got to see what he can do," Martinez said. "And at this point, he just doesn't look right right now. So we've got to figure something out. I know we need him. But we have to figure out what's going on."

Is there anything, though, to figure out at this point? If Rosenthal's not physically right, he's not revealing it.

"I feel good, and I feel like I'm really close," he said. "It's just getting over that hump. I think it'll happen soon. It's just a matter of continuing to get in there and keep working."

Asked if he thinks this is a physical issue, Martinez was noncommittal.

"I've got to really sit down and talk to him and see what's going on," the manager said. "I'm not going to make any assumptions, and we'll go from there."

Thus creates the biggest potential dilemma now facing the Nationals. It's one thing for them to decide it's time to do something about Rosenthal. It's another thing to actually figure out what to do.

They can't place him on the injured list without Rosenthal's consent. And Rosenthal keeps saying he feels great.

"I think that's the most frustrating part: I feel so good, and I want to try harder," he said. "But it's almost like the harder I try, the more it hurts me."

They can't unilaterally send him to the minors, because even though Rosenthal has options, his service time in the big leagues gives him the right to refuse a demotion.

Nor do they want to cut ties altogether, owe him his full $6 million salary plus a $1 million buyout of next year's mutual option on his contract, then watch him catch on with another club for the major league minimum and somehow right his ship.

The Nationals thought they could try to hold Rosenthal back and use him only in low-leverage spots, get him fixed and then get him back into situations of consequence. But they simply don't find themselves in many blowouts, one way or the other.

Thus, Rosenthal wasted away in the bullpen for a week without pitching before this latest appearance. For a guy desperately trying to find a rhythm, this is not a good scenario.

"It's just hard, because I'm not used to having that much time (between appearances)," he said. "But if that's going to be the case, I just need to find some extra time in between to put in some more work and have myself be ready. I know they want to get me in there and want to get me to have just one good outing, string two good ones together and help this bullpen out. Hopefully I'll keep getting chances to get back in there."

Problem is, the Nationals can't trust Rosenthal in a real situation. And so they're wasting one of seven valuable bullpen spots on a guy who is rarely going to pitch.

The Nats have played 23 games so far this season. Five relievers - Sean Doolittle, Kyle Barraclough, Tony Sipp, Matt Grace and Wander Suero - have each made at least 11 appearances. That's not a sustainable pace.

If Rosenthal is going to remain on the roster, he's going to have to pitch more than once a week. But if he can't be trusted to pitch a scoreless inning even in a non-competitive ballgame, what viable reason is there to keep him on the roster?

Unless the Nationals can come up with a valid answer to that question, the time has come to remove Rosenthal from the roster, one way or the other.