Eye On Baseball

It's not every day that one is unhappy about pitching four no-hit innings, grabbing a win and seeing his mother watch from the stand.

And yet, that's exactly what Scott Olsen was Monday -- unhappy.

Olsen made his first appearance out of the bullpen for the first time in over five years, blanking the Mets as the Nats rolled to a 13-3 win. All well and good, Olsen said, but it didn't change the fact he pitched out of the bullpen.

"I don't want to be a bullpen guy," Olsen told the Washington Post .

A big reason why Olsen dislikes relieving is it takes him out of his pregame routine where he plays catch 140 feet apart before taking the mound to prepare for starts. He is unable to do so in the bullpen as he has to get on the mound and begin throwing immediately.

"That's not going to work," Olsen stated. "I've done it. I don't get on the mound unless I play long toss. That's the biggest difference."

Well, obviously Olsen does get on the mound without playing long toss, as he did just that Monday. And clearly, the lack of long tossing isn't impeding his quality. Olsen was 1-6 with a 8.72 ERA in seven starts after coming off the disabled list and before losing his job in the rotation.

Seems to me like the long toss isn't exactly the missing denominator in Olsen's success.

Olsen won't stick in the bullpen permanently as manager Jim Riggleman said Olsen will draw another start at some point, but for now is happy to have him in the bullpen.

"He really threw good," manager Jim Riggleman said. "That may not be something that he's fired up to do. But he did it for the ballclub today, and he did a great job."

Washington suddenly has a crowded starting rotation even with Stephen Strasburg done for the year. Jordan Zimmermann, Livan Hernandez and Jason Marquis aren't going anywhere, while John Lannan is on a hot streak.

Olsen was bumped for Cuban defector Yuniesky Maya, who is mahing his major-league debut Tuesday. The Nats also have Ross Detwiler on ice as a future member of the rotation.

That doesn't leave much room for Olsen, who is 4-8 on the year with a 5.58 ERA in 15 starts and the one relief appearance. The 26-year-old has one more year of arbitration eligibility ahead of him before becoming a free agent, but the Nationals can opt to non-tender the lefty, which they did in the 2009-10 offseason. Olsen took a paycut to $1 million guaranteed for 2010, coming off a $2.8 million salary.

Another non-tender is likely, especially if there's no room in the rotation. Even though Washington can force Olsen to pitch out of the bullpen, it's not in either side's best interests to do so.

-- Evan Brunell

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