ATLANTA — After being a good soldier a year ago and accepting a role in the Washington bullpen, Tanner Roark is back in the rotation. It’s just where he wanted to be.
“It was definitely a learning experience, going from starting and then into the bullpen,” Roark said.
The right-hander broke in with a strong rookie season that saw him go 15-10 with a 2.85 ERA in 198 2/3 innings. But when the Nationals acquired Max Scherzer as a free-agent in the offseason, Roark was asked to alleviate a crowded situation by moving to the bullpen.
He wasn’t nearly as effective there. Roark appeared in 40 games, 12 of them starts, and went 4-7 with a 4.38 ERA in 111 innings.
Roark said he had to reacquaint himself with the process of warming up in a hurry and have all his pitches ready to go. Because his arm felt fresh most of the time, he had to work past the notion that he could blow batters away with his fastball. His performance improved when he stopped trying to throw each pitch with maximum effort.
“I’m better when I’m 92 (mph) down at the knees with my sinker,” he said. “You’ve got to learn how to pitch and not try to blow it by everybody.”
After the lackluster 2015 season, Jordan Zimmermann signed with Detroit and Doug Fister signed with Houston, leaving the door open for Roark to return to the rotation. He will pitch the home opener for the Nationals on Friday against the Marlins.
Roark is coming off a good spring. He went 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA, and had 17 strikeouts in 18 innings in the Grapefruit League.