WASHINGTON – Manager Blake Butera began his postgame press conference by addressing the glaring statistic on the box score.
“Well, I think you guys know the story to tonight’s game – 13 walks,” Butera stated. “Honestly, we’re fortunate that it was only a 3-0 game when you walk 13 guys. That’s what it comes down to.”
A bullpen game against Zack Wheeler turned into mislocated pitches on Wednesday night at Nationals Park. The Nationals tied the record for most walks issued in team history (2005-present) in the shutout loss. They matched the mark set twice – Aug. 10, 2008, against the Brewers and Aug. 11, 2024, versus the Angels.
“Pretty amazing,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly. “Thirteen walks is a lot of walks.”
The Nationals' bullpen includes seven rookie relievers, including Riley Cornelio, Yovanny Cruz, Will Dion, Luis Perales (No. 12 prospect) and Jared Simpson. Richard Lovelady was the only non-rookie to pitch in the bullpen game on Wednesday.
The results are a juxtaposition from Tuesday’s win in which a bullpen of Cruz, Lovelady, Brad Lord and rookie Erik Tolman did not allow a walk.
“It just didn't seem like anybody could settle in and find the zone,” said Butera. “... I thought Cornelio kept us in the game. I thought Dion kept us in the game. I thought all these guys actually kept us in the game. But you're really playing with fire when you walk this many guys against this type of lineup.”
The Nationals pushed Cade Cavalli’s start to Friday to give their ace extra rest with the off-day coming up on Thursday. They tabbed the left-hander Simpson as the opener to match up with the Phillies lineup, hoping he could pitch multiple innings. Simpson, who hadn’t pitched since allowing three runs on Sept. 8 at Petco Park, gave up two runs off one hit and four walks in just 1/3 of a frame.
“He hadn’t pitched in a while, we wanted to get him back out there after the San Diego outing,” Butera said. “If he’s here, he’s got to pitch. When you start him, it's something he's done before in Triple-A and was comfortable doing it. Also knowing that you're not really sure what you're going to get, but if you go with him first, you have options behind him if things were to go sideways – which unfortunately did tonight.”
Cornelio pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam to retire J.T. Realmuto and Brandon Marsh. Cornelio, who has had recent success as an opener, pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings with two walks. Dion followed with 2 2/3 scoreless frames, three strikeouts and one walk.
Lovelady, the only pitcher who did not issue a walk, gave up one run in 2/3 of an inning. Perales took over with a runner on second and one out in the seventh. He issued five walks in two innings, though he managed to prevent the Phillies from scoring.
As Perales’ pitch count rose to 49 pitches, the former Minor League starter was replaced by Cruz for the final two outs. Cruz issued one free base before closing the ninth inning.
Of their collective 176 pitches, the Nationals located 97 for strikes (54%). They fanned seven Phillies batters. The Nats bullpen has the third-lowest strikeout-to-walk rate (1.79) in the National League behind the Reds and Giants.
“If you are going to walk some guys, you’ve got to strike guys out,” said Butera. “I think when your stuff isn't great and you're walking guys, that's when you need to get punchouts and you need to make big pitches to put guys away to work around that. I think our guys that we threw tonight are able to do that, but I think we need to make it a lot easier on ourselves by throwing more strikes.”
Butera wonders if the rookie pitchers are trying to be “too fine,” especially when facing rosters filled with sluggers. But that’s part of the learning process, and a key to the development of a young team.
“All these guys getting a chance to pitch in these games, against a good lineup like this and a tight game, too – I think the more we can get them out there, the more innings they can get under their belts, it’s only going to help going forward,” said Butera.