Soriano to take a couple of days off, review mechanics; Nats will mix, match in ninth

Following Friday night's blown save by closer Rafael Soriano - which eventually resulted in a 9-8,11-inning loss to the Phillies - Matt Williams said Soriano will take a couple of days off.

The Nationals manager was clear about the plan for Soriano. But Williams wasn't ready to pinpoint exactly who will replace him in the ninth inning for the time being.

Matt Thornton, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen will likely get the bulk of the late-inning work, with Ryan Mattheus also a possibility as the Nats mix and match.

"It depends. It depends on what kind of match-up we have," Williams said. "We've got options. It depends on their team. It depends on who's used in other roles and how we want to do it in a course of a game. There's nobody in particular we are going to announce as the closer for the next few days. Good thing is we've got guys with experience doing it. Any of them can. We'll see how the games unfold."

Williams said the two sliders Soriano threw that turned into home runs to Carlos Ruiz and Ben Revere were the problem. And Soriano's breaking pitch has been an issue for the last week.

"I think the thing that's got him recently is the slider," Williams said. "Last night, both pitches were sliders that didn't have much downward plane. So that's a mechanical issue oftentimes. The issue with guys in the bullpen is it's difficult for them to throw bullpens and work on it because they could be used on an everyday basis. So he's going to take a couple of days, look at some video. Look at certainly his release point, where his arm angle is, especially on his slider.

Williams said he believes it is a mechanical issue with Soriano's slider.

"He threw one good one to (Cody) Asche to strike him out," Williams said. "But the other two were flat. I know for him it's arm angle and it's slot. Like we talked about, it's fastball velocity.i His good command isn't quite where he wants it, certainly. The depth of his breaking pitch is not there right now. So he'll work on that."

Williams said Soriano will study his pitches and his mechanics for a couple of days and then potentially have a bullpen session.

"For the next couple of days, we'll let him ease his mind a little bit," the manager said. "Work on it. View some video and get back to where he has been. It's important for him, important for us, as well."

Williams envisions a "softer landing" for Soriano when he returns, maybe pitching him in lower-leverage situations to ease him back into the closer's role. But the Nationals want Soriano to return to the closer role when he gets his mechanics back to where he wants them to be.