VIERA, Fla. — When Tanner Roark first made it to the big leagues in 2013, he went 7-1 with a 1.51 earned-run average in 15 appearances. The next spring, he still had to fight for a spot on the team.
When Roark earned a job in the starting rotation last season, he finished 15-10 with a 2.85 ERA and a staff-best 5.1 wins above replacement. In October, he was relegated to the bullpen for the postseason.
Roark has been challenged throughout his career, and it’s clear now that he’s not easily deterred. So when the Nationals signed former Cy Young award-winner Max Scherzer to a $210 million contract this offseason, the the 28-year-old continued to prepare as a starter, despite speculation that a move to the bullpen is imminent. He had that same mentality Saturday, when he shared a bullpen session with Scherzer during the team’s first official workout.
“As far as I know, I”m still training to be a starter,” Roark said. “So that’s what I’m going to do until I’m told different.”
Manager Matt Williams hasn’t told him anything to the contrary just yet. Though it looks like Roark is destined for a bump to the bullpen, perhaps in a long-relief role, Williams said those decisions have not yet been made.
“I can’t tell him this is the plan because the plan can change. You just don’t know,” Williams said. “He’s training as if he was going to start every fifth day. If we get to the point where we have to make an adjustment on that, he’s aware that’s a possibility, and we’ll make that adjustment. But right now, he’s going to be one of our starters, one of our six or seven starters in spring training and we’ll go from there.”
By numbers alone, Roark would be a reliable, if not outstanding, starter for several major league teams year-in and year-out. Yet in a Nationals rotation that also includes Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Doug Fister and Gio Gonzalez, he has repeatedly found himself fighting for a spot. Every spring, it seems like Roark is in limbo.
Despite those difficult circumstances, Williams said the right-hander’s attitude is “phenomenal.” He’s always excited to jog to the mound and get the ball, in any situation at any point in the game. He said he’s just excited to be a part of a legitimate World Series contender.
“It’s not disappointing by any means,” Roark said. “It is what it is. I have no control over it. They control what they want to do, and how they foresee we’re going to win the World Series. That’s all I care about: winning the World Series, no matter where I’m at.”
Over nearly six years in the minors, Roark regularly toggled between pitching roles, making 105 starts and 67 relief appearances. Though the jobs demand different types of mental preparation, he said he’s gotten used to it.
“You’ve just got to lock in quicker,” he said. “Just out of the bullpen, you’ve got to lock in and be ready to go within 7-10 pitches.”
The assumption is that Roark will fill Craig Stammen’s long-relief role, opening the door for Stammen to pitch more high-pressure innings later in the game. But Williams cautioned that might not be the case.
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“[Roark] ticks up when he gets in the bullpen. He goes from 90 to 93 to 92 to 95. And so that’s an opportunity,” Williams said. “But, again, it’s a little bit of a different look, the bullpen this year, and there’s opportunity in that regard for him and everybody else to solidify those roles as we go.”
Whatever role Roark ends up filling, he’ll do it without complaint.
“That’s what ultimately makes a good team, and that’s what’s good about this team is there’s no ’I’ guys. There’s no ’I only care about myself,’” Roark said. “We’re a team, and teams win.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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