Mariners' Bergman to start opener at Nationals (May 23, 2017)
WASHINGTON -- It is amazing what leaving Denver can do for pitchers and their confidence, not to mention their ERAs.
That appears to be the case for Christian Bergman, who is slated to start on the mound for the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday at Washington in the first of a three-game interleague series against the first-place Nationals.
Bergman posted ERAs of 5.93, 4.74 and 8.39 from 2014-16 in his first three seasons in the majors with the Colorado Rockies. Last year he appeared in 15 games, including one start.
Now in his first year with last-place Seattle (20-25), Bergman will make his third start and fourth appearance on Tuesday. He is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA and went 7 1/3 scoreless innings with a career-high nine strikeouts against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
"He really stepped up and was in total control from the get-go," Mariners manager Scott Servais told reporters.
Bergman had not posted a win as a starter since Sept. 21, 2014.
"If I strike out five or six in a game it feels like 10. It's not something I normally do," Bergman told reporters after his last start. "It was a good night."
Bergman, 29, has faced the Nationals just once, allowing two runs in one inning out of the bullpen for the Rockies last season. Washington right fielder Bryce Harper has a homer in his only official at-bat against Bergman.
It will be the first series for Seattle in Washington since 2011, when the Nationals swept a three-game set. Washington is 6-0 at home against the Mariners.
The Nationals (26-17) did not immediately name a starter for Tuesday following their 3-2 win on Sunday in Atlanta against the Braves. On Monday, the team announced that right-hander Joe Ross (1-0, 7.47 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to rejoin the rotation.
Ross, who went 7-5 with a 3.43 ERA for Washington in 2016, won his season debut but was pounded in his next two outings, leading to his demotion at the beginning of May.
But it is who is on the mound at the end of the game for the Nationals that has been the topic du jour in baseball circles in the nation's capital for the past few weeks.
Washington's bullpen has been a disaster for most of this season and has a league-worst 5.40 ERA through Sunday.
With that in mind, and as a possible solution, the Nationals began using top pitching prospect Erick Fedde out of the bullpen last week after he made seven starts this year for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators of the Eastern League.
Fedde, 24, allowed one hit and one run in one inning out of bullpen on May 16 against the Bowie Baysox and then went two innings in relief on Friday at Richmond, allowing one hit and one run with three strikeouts.
"We see Erick Fedde as a starting pitcher of the future," Washington general manager Mike Rizzo told 106.7 The Fan last week.
But with a possible bullpen need for the Nationals, and the fact that Fedde is on an innings limit after he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014, using him a reliever for now makes sense for the Nationals.
"We see this as killing two birds with one stone," Rizzo said, referring to bullpen help and keeping Fedde's innings down.
Mark Scialabba, the director of player development for the Nationals, was in Harrisburg last week as the Senators hosted the Bowie Baysox.
"He has value long term as a starter," Scialabba, standing back of home plate, said of Fedde. "Mike and Dusty (Baker) and the rest of our staff decided this was the time to transition him into this role (out of bullpen). We are very excited about his future."
The Nationals snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 win Sunday in Atlanta as right-hander Koda Glover got the last four outs for his third save. Washington turned a double play in the ninth as Matt Adams lined out to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who stepped on the bag to retire Matt Kemp.
"Sometimes it's good to be lucky," Glover told reporters.
