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Clay has made a good first impression on Nationals manager Dave Martinez as he competes for a spot in the bullpen, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports. "He threw today, and he looked really good," Martinez said Wednesday. "He throws a heavy ball. We like him because he [induces] a lot of groundballs. It's got a good mix of pitches, so we're going to keep a close eye on him."
The 27-year-old has yet to make his big-league debut after coming up through the Twins organization, but Clay signed a major-league deal with Washington in the offseason, and the only left-hander currently locked into a bullpen job is closer Brad Hand. Before spending all of 2020 at Minnesota's alternate training site, Clay posted a 3.25 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 72:28 K:BB across 69.1 innings between Double-A and Triple-A without allowing a home run. If he does break camp on the big-league roster, he would likely work in middle relief.
