Baker keeping relievers rested, up to date on when they will pitch

During most pregame media sessions, at least one reporter asks Nationals manager Dusty Baker who is available to pitch from the bullpen that night. Baker never answers the question because he doesn't want the opponent to know who he might go to and who is getting a night off.

If you go back over the previous three or four games, you can easily put together a good guess of which pitcher or pitchers might not be available because Baker has gone to them a lot.

The 2016 bullpen is also a very different set of pitchers compared to last season. The only relievers remaining from last season are Blake Treinen, Felipe Rivero and Jonathan Papelbon. Since the calf injury to Matt Belisle, Sammy Solis returned from the minors to join the 'pen.

Besides Belisle, veterans Oliver Perez, Shawn Kelley and Yusmeiro Petit have joined the mix.

The bullpen didn't have to pitch in Max Scherzer's complete game, which certainly helps. But in the last two games, relievers have allowed no runs in four innings of work. They did allow three runs in back-to-back games at Chicago on May 7 and 8 over 13 innings.

Baker said before Friday's game that the camaraderie of this relatively new group in the bullpen is critical to how they pitch in games.

"That's one thing I urged our guys to do: Get together as a unit as soon as possible," Baker said. "Whether you are a unit that isn't a regular that is coming in sometimes or whether you're the starting five or whether you are the bullpen, the bullpen is one of the most important jobs in baseball.

"You kind of take the bullpen for granted unless you have a bad bullpen, or unless you are blowing games late or some course of time during the game. I've always said the starter goes out there and then in two hours of hard work can be washed down the drain in about 30 seconds. Those guys take a lot of pride in keeping the game where it is if we're behind or keeping the lead if we're ahead."

And this bullpen was new to the new manager, too. Several times during spring training games, reporters would ask Baker how he would use his 'pen. Would there be a designated guy for the seventh, eighth and ninth innings?

"I didn't know at the time," Baker said. "I wasn't being funny - I didn't know, until you see how resilient his arm is or how long it takes him to warm up. After a while, you get to have some continuity where they know when the phone rings who probably will or won't be in the game."

So far, Papelbon has had nine saves but has also blown two save attempts and ended up with the loss. Petit has been a good long guy, though he was charged with a blown save at Chicago, but still has a 1.93 ERA. Perez has five holds. Treinen is 2-1 with five holds. Kelley has not allowed a run in 16 appearances. Solis has two holds and is 0-1.

If you watch the bullpen during games, there aren't guys getting up every 10 seconds and throwing. When they get the call from the dugout, the pitcher selected calmly gets up and starts throwing. If he gets called in, he heads to the mound. So far, everyone knows their roles and there are no wasted warmups.

"You don't want it to be like some fire drill and all of sudden everyone kind of panics," Baker said. "Now we're getting to the point where the guys have an idea where they will be used in the ball game. They also have an idea if I'm not going to use them that day or if it's emergency only they know."