But this isn’t fairly getting the band back collectively on the pitchers’ aspect of the spring coaching clubhouse. Clippard predates Doolittle and Sánchez by just a few years.
“At this point in my career, this scenario I’m in right now is the best possible scenario,” mentioned Clippard, who pitched for the Nationals from 2008 to 2014. “There’s so many factors when you reach my age, and I’ve been so many different places. Not to say that it’s tough to get excited, but sometimes when you feel like you’re just a hired gun and go from organization to organization … ”
He trailed off a bit. Then he introduced his thoughts back to D.C.
“ … there’s an element of being here where my heart is in it. I kind of left my heart here because I was here for so long and we went through so much. And then it was just four months in Oakland and traded to New York. You don’t have those emotional connections to each organization that you’re in. But I do here. For me, that’s going to help.”
Connections to his outdated Nationals teammates are robust. He nonetheless talks with Tom Gorzelanny, John Lannan, Sean Burnett, Ian Desmond and Ryan Zimmerman. He performed in a golf occasion with Craig Stammen this offseason and needs to tee off with Liván Hernández down in Florida. He and Drew Storen, a former bullpen mate, stay good mates and not too long ago began a enterprise promoting whiskey made with corn that was grown the place “Field of Dreams” was shot in Iowa. But of that group, solely Clippard and Stammen stay energetic.
Since he left Washington, Clippard has pitched for Oakland, the New York Mets, Arizona, the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Houston, Toronto, Cleveland, Minnesota and the Diamondbacks once more final 12 months. At the beginning of 2021, he missed 3½ months with a capsule sprain in his proper shoulder. Otherwise, although, he has been a mannequin of sturdiness, averaging 68 appearances a season from 2009 to 2019.
A 3.13 profession ERA isn’t so unhealthy, both. The Nationals are risking nothing to see what he has left.
“The foundation of who I am, the nuts and bolts of who Tyler Clippard is, is never going to change,” Clippard mentioned. “The fastball-change-up, of course. But obviously when you’re in the game and you age in the game, you have to make adjustments. That’s what baseball is. Even week to week, you need to make adjustments.
“So this is eight years removed from being a Washington National … [I’ve] definitely evolved, got a few new toys in the chest and doing all sorts of fun things out there now … I feel like I can do it at a high level still. It might look a little different, but it still gets the job done.”
The new toys? He drops his arm angle on some pitches, sweeps a curveball and mixes in a sinker, which may assist a historically flyball pitcher induce extra grounders. FanGraphs nonetheless had Clippard at 43 % four-seam fastballs and 34 % change-ups in 2021. Evolution doesn’t need to imply completely forgetting who you’re.
But at his age and with hitters trying to launch excessive pitches into orbit, it is smart for Clippard to tweak his arsenal. He advised reporters Saturday that he has thrown eight reside batting observe classes and may very well be prepared for an exhibition quickly. He, Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey will focus on subsequent steps, with Clippard on the perimeter of Washington’s shoddy bullpen. With the common season lower than two weeks away, it appears probably Clippard extends his ramp-up previous April 7 and waits for an opportunity.
“Look, we want to make sure, one, that you’re healthy and you’re going to stay healthy,” Martinez mentioned Saturday. “His veteran presence, the way he goes about his business, he’s going to help us. He’s going to help us in the bullpen. But I want to make sure that he’s ready.”