SAN DIEGO -- Even when things go wrong, even when he walks off the mound as the opposing team forms a celebratory dogpile, a closer provides value to a team. A traditional closer who can handle the falls from the tightrope and bounce back the next day as if nothing happened brings stability to a bullpen, and keeps the highest heat off his fellow relievers.

Sean Doolittle took that heat this weekend for the Nationals.

“The mental aspect of pitching in that role, that’s what makes it a bit more difficult,” Doolittle said Sunday before the Nats wrapped up their four-game series against the Padres at Petco Park. “There’s no gray area.

“I talked to Trevor Hoffman about it, and he said there’s no other job in baseball where there’s a one-to-one ratio of your success to the team success.”

Doolittle had both extremes of the closer experience against San Diego. The 32-year-old left-hander was on the mound as the Padres rallied for a walk-off victory Friday night. One night later, he thwarted a ninth-inning comeback bid, coming in for a one-pitch save.

That was Doolittle’s 14th save in 17 chances this season. He has 60 saves in 65 chances in three seasons with the Nationals -- a 92.3 percent conversion rate.

“I’ve pitched in a lot of different roles in my career,” Doolittle said. “One thing that’s helped me since I’ve been over here is that in the first couple weeks after I got traded here, they said, ‘You’re the closer. You’re the guy.’

“Knowing that if I had a rough outing, if I did blow a save, I wasn’t going to get taken out of that role. That did wonders for me mentally with my confidence.”

Doolittle is big on analytics and uses them in his self-evaluations. Still, he’s not sold on the trend of teams shifting away from traditional closers, despite the logic of using your top arms in the highest-leverage situations no matter when they come.

The ninth inning, it seems, is something for the psychologists to study, not the mathematicians.

“There’s a different energy in that inning,” Doolittle said. “You can’t simulate it. There’s a lot of adrenaline in the seventh, eighth inning. But, for whatever reason, that ninth inning is a little bit different.

“These teams that want to play matchups and plug in players, it can be tough. So much of this role is not just your stuff, not what pitches you have, but how can you manage that energy. Because it’s different. There’s an adrenaline spike. When the [stuff] hits the fan, can you stay in the moment and navigate that inning, or does it get the best of you?”

Experience helps closers deal with the pressure, but it doesn’t make them immune. That’s why Doolittle welcomed the call from manager Dave Martinez on Saturday.

The lefty came in with the Nats up 4-1, a runner on first base and Fernando Tatis Jr. pinch-hitting with two outs. One fastball later, Tatis had popped out to right fielder Adam Eaton in foul ground and the game was over.

“To come in for one pitch, one save and be high-fiving on the mound and part of a win, that really puts the other night to bed,” Doolittle said.