Washington Nationals reliever Jose A. Ferrer closed out the San Francisco Giants on Saturday to pick up his first save of the year in a 4-2 victory. The left-hander entered in the eighth with a three-run lead, one out, and the bases loaded. He allowed a sacrifice fly to Wilmer Flores before striking out Matt Chapman to end the inning. Ferrer then overcame two ninth-inning singles by inducing a game-ending double play from Patrick Bailey. He wound up needing 19 pitches (13 strikes) to get five outs. Ferrer's save is the first for the Nationals since they traded closer Kyle Finnegan to the Detroit Tigers at the July 31 deadline. He seems likely to get more save opportunities down the stretch, although they could be few and far between for the last-place Nationals. The 25-year-old's 4.79 ERA and 7.67 K/9 over 56 1/3 frames are underwhelming, but Ferrer has shown great control (1.92 per nine), and his 3.00 FIP and 3.24 xFIP suggest he has deserved better than his bottom-line results.

MASN's Mark Zuckerman writes that the back end of the Washington Nationals bullpen is going to be a problem the rest of the year after they shipped closer Kyle Finnegan and relievers Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia away at this week's trade deadline. Zuckerman mentions Jose A. Ferrer as the potential favorite for saves now, at least against lefty-heavy lineups. But against righties late in games, the team could go with Cole Henry or Zach Brzykcy. Ferrer is probably the first target in deep fantasy leagues off the waiver wire if you're desperate for saves, but as Zuckerman notes, an already shaky bullpen just got worse with two months left in the season. Ferrer is a 25-year-old southpaw gets a lot of whiff on his changeup, but he's struggled to a 4.78 ERA and 1.22 WHIP with a weak 20.1% strikeout rate in 52 2/3 frames this year.