When Blake Treinen was shipped off to Oakland for Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle, Washington Nationals fans collectively let out a sigh of relief. The Nationals have been haunted by uncertain final innings for longer than the ghost of their first round exits. I won’t rehash it; we all know of Rafael Soriano and the crumbling, once promising, career of Drew Storen.
Doolittle’s presence gives the Nationals a luxury they are unaccustomed to, a solidified closer at the beginning of spring training. Essentially, due to all reports, the job is Doolittle’s to lose.