Williams not shy to call on Barrett in big situations

ATLANTA -- Nationals manager Matt Williams has a lot of confidence in reliever Aaron Barrett.

In the Nats' 7-1 victory over the Marlins on Thursday, Barrett replaced lefty Jerry Blevins in the eighth inning and faced the dangerous Giancarlo Stanton, who represented the tying run. It took six pitches before Stanton struck out on a devastating slider to end the inning.

"It's given me a little bit of confidence that [Williams] is putting me in those types of situations," Barrett said.

Williams is not surprised that Barrett has been successful in the big leagues. After all, Barrett played for Williams in the Arizona Fall League two years ago.

"For me, regardless of the results, [Barrett] doesn't necessarily see the third deck. It doesn't matter to him," Williams said of pitching in the Majors. "What matters to him is that he is throwing the ball where he wants to in the strike zone, and out of the strike zone when he wants to. So, in that regard, he has really been impressive. He doesn't seem to be affected by the whole thing. He wants the ball a lot. So we have to put him in situations where that is going to happen sometimes. He is ready for it, which is good."

Barrett still can't believe he is in the big leagues. As he put it, life has been a whirlwind since Williams told him at the end of Spring Training that he was on the 25-man roster. When the season started, it wasn't known what Barrett's role would be, but for more than a week, Williams has used him in the late innings.

"Whatever the role is, whether it's a close game or the latter innings when we are down, my job is to go out there and get guys out. That's all I can do," Barrett said.