Martinez trying to find spots to help Doolittle get right

Sean Doolittle is healthy. The Nationals coaching and training staffs keep asking him, and he keeps replying there's nothing physically wrong with him.

Something, though, is out of whack when Doolittle attempts to pitch right now. The veteran reliever didn't look right during intrasquad games and the brief exhibition season. And he hasn't looked right during his three appearances since the regular season began.

"He says he feels fine," manager Davey Martinez said today during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "We ask him all the time. And I know sometimes we can be a little annoying, but we're looking out for him and his best interests. He wants to help us win. And in order for us to pull this off, we need Sean Doolittle."

They certainly needed him last season en route to their World Series title. For four months when there was no other effective member of the majors' least effective bullpen, Doolittle was called upon over and over to close out games and keep the Nationals competitive. And though he faded in August and was shut down for several weeks due to a knee injury and overuse, he came back strong in the postseason to team up with Daniel Hudson as a dominant 1-2 bullpen punch.

The Nats hoped for a similar setup this season, with added help from former Astros setup man Will Harris and emerging young righty Tanner Rainey. But Doolittle hasn't been part of the solution so far, and it doesn't seem like he will be until he gets himself back on track.

Martinez has called on the 33-year-old only three times through the first nine games. He has faced a total of 11 batters, allowed six of them to reach base and two of those to score. On Wednesday night against the Mets, he retired only one of four batters faced.

It's not difficult to identify the problem: Velocity, or lack thereof. Doolittle's four-seam fastball, his all-purpose, go-to pitch, is averaging just 90.7 mph this season. That's down considerably from his 93.5 mph average last season, even more considerably from his 95.4 mph average in 2016 while he was with the Athletics.

Hitters are having no trouble hitting that pitch when it's in the strike zone; they're batting .571 (4-for-7) against it. And they're having no trouble taking the pitch when it's above the strike zone; their swing-and-miss rate is a meager 8.7 percent, way down from 22.5 percent last year and 33.4 percent the year before that.

How does Doolittle improve all that? He and the club have been working furiously on his mechanics, most notably using his legs better to produce more power.

"We're trying to really hone in on him using his lower half a little better," Martinez said. "I think that's a big part of it. I know he's working on it. He's been with (pitching coach Paul Menhart). He's been with (bullpen coach Henry Blanco) in the bullpen, really trying to stay over his back side and use his lower half a little better. His velo was better his last outing. Now he's got to hone in on the strike zone."

Trouble is, it's difficult to find the right spots to see if Doolittle's work can produce improved game results. The Nationals' postponed series vs. the Marlins gave him more than a week to work things out in the bullpen, but he pitched the seventh inning of a close game Wednesday night against the Mets.

With only one other lefty (journeyman Sam Freeman) in his bullpen, Martinez can't afford to stash Doolittle away and use him in only low-leverage spots.

"For me, it's trying to match him up the best I can right now," the manager said. "But I have confidence in him. This is something that, hopefully, will work itself out. But we need him, and I need to use him. Him and Freeman are the two left-handers I've got. And I like Sean. I've always loved Sean. He was our closer. Hopefully, we get him back and he'll start pitching in the eighth and ninth for us."