The definition of a blown save is not understood by all fans. They are all bad for the team collared with that blown save, but not all blown saves turn into losses. Some really are not the reliever’s fault.
Here are some examples of blown saves the Washington Nationals have endured this season. A starter leaves the game with a runner on third base in the 6ᵗʰ inning with a 1-run lead and the reliever gives up a single and that runner scores. That is a blown save. Weird, huh? Or it is the bottom of the 10ᵗʰ inning and the ghost runner who starts on 2ⁿᵈ base scores as an unearned run and that can be a blown save. The average fan believes that blown saves only occur in the 9th inning. Also, you can actually have more than one blown save in a game.
Here is the box score of one of those 10ᵗʰ inning blown saves when only the ghost runner scored, and that game turned into a win from a game where the Nationals had two blown saves. This is another blown save box score that the Nats won the game. Here is the box score of a blown save from a Nats win that the reliever had to keep the inherited runner from scoring. That is a total of four blown saves, and the Nats won those games. There are more of those.
Last night’s blown save didn’t need to be a loss. It turned into a loss because of questionable defense, questionable decisions, a throwing error, and Clayton Beeter wasn’t good in his second inning of work. But the blown save happened in the 8ᵗʰ inning from Tom Cosgrove. That was the 33ʳᵈ blown save by the Nats this year. The MLB record is 37 blown saves by the 2024 Chicago White Sox who coincidentally broke the previous record of 36 blown saves by the 2021 Washington Nationals.
“[Beeter] just struggled to command tonight. Just felt like he was falling behind. There were a couple at-bats there where he got ahead with two strikes, and couldn’t put guys away. ”
— manager Blake Butera said after Friday’s loss
Blown saves losses in the 9ᵗʰ when you give that closer a clean inning, and he blows it are the ones that sting the worse. The last time the Nats did that was exactly a week ago in Queens, New York. Will it be the last time that happens? No. That is part of baseball.
How do you prevent blown saves? Part of it is bad luck. Part of it is poor execution. And part of it is that the reliever or closer du jour is just not good enough. That is a need for the Washington Nationals to find more competent relief pitchers. All teams say the same. The Washington Nationals have not found that shutdown closer yet. Team president, Paul Toboni, has to find that person.
Leave a Reply