Cole

Henry

Henry had a rough start to the season, and perhaps this explains it. No word yet on how long the 26-year-old will be out, but a rotator cuff strain is never great news for a pitcher.

Clayton Beeter was off today after working the previous two days. Cole Henry seemed like he might be the primary fallback, but he came in mid-batter in the seventh today after a Ken Waldichuk injury and finished off a walk to Brice Turang before walking William Contreras and giving up a homer to Gary Sánchez. So, that won’t help his stock. The interesting thing there is that he was allowed to be removed after the homer, even though he officially faced just two batters; the initial walk was credited to Waldichuk yet still counted as far as the three-batter rule for Henry. PJ Poulin got four outs after replacing Henry, and Varland did a fine job in retiring Joey Ortiz, Turang and Contreras. Varland, who has allowed three runs in five innings, probably will be a factor in the ninth for the Nationals if Beeter struggles or gets hurt.

The Nationals tried to piece things together in the ninth today. Clayton Beeter stranded two runners after coming in with one out in the eighth. He went on to retire Justin Crawford to start the ninth, but he was pulled in favor of lefty PJ Poulin after Trea Turner singled. Poulin walked Kyle Schwarber, got Bryce Harper to pop out and then walked Alec Bohm before being lifted in favor of Henry, who probably would have pitched to Bohm if not for the three-batter rule. Henry gave up a two-run single to Edmundo Sosa, tying the game at 5-5, before walking Adolis García and retiring Brandon Marsh. Henry then remained in for the 10th after the Nationals failed to score in the top of the inning and took the loss after giving up singles to both batters he faced. Based on today’s results, Beeter’s stock should be up a little in comparison to Henry’s. Still, those two might go back and forth a few times. Plus, Henry wasn’t actually charged with an earned run today, while Beeter was.

Henry ended up not pitching Thursday after the Nationals upped their lead to six runs in the ninth. At this point, the Nationals likely just wanted to get him some work, and he had an easy 11-pitch inning against the Cubs, striking out one. That should keep him available to pitch Sunday, and we’ll again have to wait and see what the Nationals do if they have a late lead.

It looks like the Nationals were setting things up for Cole Henry to get the save chance today, though he went unused in the bottom of the ninth after the team upped its lead from four runs to six runs in the top of the inning. It’s just a tiny bit of a surprise, as it looked like Beeter might have the edge over Henry at the end of the spring. Still, this is situation that figures to continue evolving over the course of the season, and because the Nationals still figure to be pretty bad, neither Beeter nor Henry seems like a must-roster guy right now.

Teams typically use their better relievers early in games in spring training, but it seemed like manager Blake Butera wanted Beeter to have the chance to close this one out. It didn’t happen — the Nationals were shut out — but it’s the thought that counts. Beeter and Cole Henry, who worked a scoreless second today, seem like the favorite for saves in D.C. There probably won’t be a bunch to go around, though.

Henry wraps up his first season as a full-time reliever with a serviceable 4.27 ERA and 52/32 K/BB ratio across 52 2/3 innings over 57 appearances. He also notched a pair of saves. The 26-year-old right-hander, who was a second-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, should be a full-go for spring training.

Ferrer set up for Cole Henry on Saturday, but that was largely because the top of the order was due up in the eighth. The Nationals didn’t think they were going to have a save chance today, but they exploded for five runs in the ninth, giving Ferrer a chance. Since he has pitched on back-to-back days, he could be held out on Monday, making Henry the favorite for a save chance then.

Jose A. Ferrer, the Nationals’ typical closer, was given the eighth against the top of the order today and retired Carlos Santana (pinch-hitting for Michael Busch), Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki in order. Henry had more favorable matchups in the ninth, especially since Pete Crow-Armstrong had left due to injury. He gave up a one-out single to Nick Hoerner, but he retired the other three guys he faced. Ferrer is still the pitcher worth rostering in the Nationals pen.

The Nats opted to use Jose A. Ferrer against the heart of the lineup in the eighth tonight, leaving Henry to face the bottom of the order in the ninth. Henry did give up a leadoff single to Max Kepler in the one-run game, but he retired three in a row afterwards for the save. He’ll probably continue to set up for Ferrer most of the time.