This season, Washington’s relievers have allowed 29 more runs that you would expect given the men on base and outs remaining during their appearances. The Baltimore Orioles also have allowed 29 more runs than expected in relief this season, but they have pitched 154⅓ innings, whereas the Nationals have pitched just 105⅓. If we normalize these excess runs to 100 innings pitched, Washington’s bullpen is hemorrhaging runs at a rate we haven’t seen in more than three decades.

Trevor Rosenthal, who has been on the 10-day injured list because of a viral infection since April 29, was Washington’s worst offender (10 runs more than expected in three innings pitched). Dan Jennings has allowed six more runs than expected over 2⅔ innings pitched this season. Jeremy Hellickson, Justin Miller, Austen Williams, Joe Ross and Matt Grace are all allowing more runs than expected so far. Better-than-expectations performances from Sean Doolittle, Erick Fedde and Wander Suero have not been enough to compensate.

If advanced stats aren’t your thing, consider the Nationals’ bullpen sports a major league-high 6.41 ERA, which is 48-percent higher than the league average. That, too, would be a record high since 1974, the first year data is available. If we modified their ERA and instead used league average results on balls in play and league average timing it would drop to a more respectable 4.65, just 9 percent higher than the league average and the ninth-worst mark this season. Not as bad, but still underwhelming for a team looking to win the division and make the playoffs.

One option supported by many is the signing of free agent reliever Craig Kimbrel to help resolve the team’s issues in the bullpen. Kimbrel would give Martinez another late-inning stopper to pair with Doolittle but the cost appears to be prohibitive. The Athletic’s Jim Bowden reported in April that Kimbrel was asking for a deal close to $100 million this spring but MLB insider Ken Rosenthal tweeted that Kimbrel and his agent are now seeking a deal similar to that of Wade Davis (three years, $52 million) or Zack Britton (three years, $39 million). Even at the discounted price, Nationals ownership likely won’t want to exceed the $206 million luxury tax payroll threshold this season.

Here’s a better option for Martinez: Use a relief pitcher to start the game and pitch one or two innings before calling in a traditional starting pitcher to pitch the next five or six innings. The logic behind using an “opener”: Because the normal “starter” won’t face the top of the opponent’s order the first time, he theoretically won’t have to face it a third time, which typically is when pitchers struggle the most. The Tampa Bay Rays first employed the “opener” approach last season, and they won 90 games. This season they’re 23-13, tied for the most wins in Major League Baseball. The Brewers used Adrian Houser as an opener for Freddy Peralta in Wednesday’s win over Washington, and the two combined to hold the Nationals to zero runs over seven innings, yielding five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts.

Ross, a former starter, could excel in this role. His career strikeout rate in the first three innings (24 percent) is greater than either of his performances in middle innings (16 percent) or late in games (19 percent) and his walk rate is also better early on.

Is this enough to fix all of Washington’s problems? No, but when things get this bad, you have nothing left to lose.