Nationals acquire closer Kelvin Herrera in trade with Royals
The Washington Nationals’ bullpen just got a lot better.
As if having Sean Doolittle closing things out weren’t good enough, the Nats have now acquired Kelvin Herrera from the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals officially announced the trade on Monday and said they were receiving outfielder Blake Perkins, third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez, and pitcher Yohanse Morel in return.
We have acquired 3B Kelvin Gutierrez, OF Blake Perkins and RHP Yohanse Morel from the Washington Nationals in exchange for RHP Kelvin Herrera. pic.twitter.com/QC5MkkvLJS
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) June 19, 2018
Herrera, 28, is having a fantastic season. He has a 1.05 ERA and 0.82 WHIP this season with 14 saves. He’s only walked two and struck out 22 in 25.2 innings.
Herrera will be a right-handed counterpart for the lefty Doolittle. The Nats’ southpaw closer has a 1.47 ERA, 0.55 WHIP and 18 saves this season, to go along with 43 strikeouts.
Bullpen used to be an area of weakness for the Nats, but it now looks like a strength. If they could only get Ryan Madson and Brandon Kintzler on track, they’d really be in business.
