Following their 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, the Washington Nationals announced the firing of pitching coach Derek Lilliquist.
The move comes as the Nationals try and shake things up to grab a hold of their season before it gets away from them. Currently, they are 13-17 on the season and pitching has been to blame for large part.
Washington is 24th in MLB with a 4.95 ERA. That includes being 29th with a 6.02 ERA among MLB bullpens. Only Baltimore has a worse ERA among relievers. The Nationals bullpen is also worse among National League teams in opponents batting average.
The struggles of the bullpen have amounted all year let alone the fact Washington has struggled to produce a quality fourth and fifth starter in the last two seasons with Lilliquist. General manager Mike Rizzo cited “preparation issues” when speaking to the media about the firing.
Paul Menhart has been promoted to replace Lilliquist. Menhart was previously the organization’s minor league pitching coordinator.
Lilliquist is a long-time friend of Nationals manager Davey Martinez. After the announcement Martinez reflected on their relationship and this dismissal.
Lilliquist didn’t last a full two seasons in Washington. He replaced the popular Mike Maddox when the Nationals decided to walk away from the popular manager Dusty Baker. The difference in production from the pitching has been night and day as Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post points out.
On a pitching staff that includes Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin along with relievers such as Sean Doolittle the results were especially not accepting.
Mark Zuckerman of MASN gave insight on how the Nationals let Maddox slip away and ultimately settled on Lilliquist.
When Martinez and Lilliquist arrived in Washington, the Nationals were coming off back-to-back NL East division titles and disappointing finishes in the NLDS. Washington missed the postseason in 2018, Martinez and Lillquist’s first season in DC. And after a 13-17 start to this season, a change ultimately was needed.
The Nationals have other issues like injuries, but none of that mattered with a faltering bullpen and not-so stellar starting rotation.
While Lilliquist is out as pitching coach, Rizzo endoresed Martinez as the club’s manager, saying “I think Davey’s doing a great job,” according Jamal Collier of MLB.com.
The Nationals are four games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East.
