Tyler Clippard and Matt Capps received a well-deserved night off Monday against the New York Mets. And if the Nationals want to be in contention late in the season, Washington manager Jim Riggleman would be wise to schedule a few more rest days for his overworked relievers.
Clippard and Capps currently make up the best bullpen combo in baseball, each with an ERA under 1.00 entering Tuesday night. They’re also baseball’s most-used late-inning duo, combining for 33 appearances and 42 innings pitched through the first 32 games.
At the current pace, Clippard will finish with 81 appearances and an absurd 116 innings pitched (most top setup men top out around 80). Capps, meanwhile, is on pace for 86 appearances and 91 innings, well above the norm for a closer.
“Again, Clippard and Capps, we’ve just got to back off a little bit with them,” Riggleman told reporters after Sunday’s win over the Marlins — a game in which Clippard and Capps worked an inning each. “Those guys, we’re asking so much of them … We can’t keep riding that day after day.”
Monday night, Riggleman turned to a mix-and-match group to earn a shaky save in New York. He’ll have to find a way to spell Clippard and Capps as the summer progresses. Dodgers skipper Joe Torre — a great manager with a history of overworking his bullpen — famously burned out workhorse relievers Paul Quantrill, Tom Gordon and Scott Proctor. Riggleman can’t afford to do the same thing to Clippard and Capps.
