Trip Morgan is a bit lonelier these days. That’s what happens when you’re one of the Washington Nationals’ eight bullpen cart drivers and none of their relievers will take a ride.

“Now do I try to entice people?” said Morgan, who’s driven the cart since it was introduced in the summer of 2018. “With the visitors, I will stick the tail right next to the door, almost blocking them so they have to really think about it before jogging into the game. I don’t do that with the home team, I just get close so they know I’m there and able to drive them in. But I hope some of our relievers take me up on it soon. I miss the company.”

First, let’s look at velocity. Over half of the pitchers on the list sit above the major league average fastball speed of 93.8 mph. It’s not a guarantee that each of them will hold that velo throughout their careers, but an impressive number meet a minimum threshold to be above average by big league standards. Ten can reach back for triple digits, and that doesn’t even include the guys in the higher FV tiers. Of the 81 plus or better pitches among the 35+ FV guys, about half are fastballs, but an impressive 39 are breaking balls, 31 of which are sliders. Pitchers throw about twice as many sliders as they did when the pitch tracking era began in 2008, and the fact that so many pitchers can throw one at a high level is certainly a leading cause.

Of course, there are plenty of threes and fours in the command grades for these pitchers – again, not everyone can be elite. But the sheer amount of high-octane stuff throughout even the bottom of organizational prospect lists speaks to the proliferation of pitching talent. No longer are replacement-level relievers a clear step down from the echelon of established big leaguers; the immense strides in player development have significantly raised the bar for even the last guy in an eight- or nine-man bullpen. Watching Webb and Garza flash excellence on Tuesday was quite impressive, especially after diving into the data. But as it turns out, guys just like them can be found all around baseball.