Hertz’s turn:
“DJ’s fastball control was a little off,” manager Davey Martinez said after left-hander Hurts threw 66 pitches over 3 1/3 innings last week in a road game at Petco Park.
“He couldn’t control his fastball, so he started throwing more changeups,” Martinez continued. “But he went out there and gave it his all. Every time he goes out there, it’s a learning process. We’ve got him back and he’ll be ready to go in five more days.”
The 23-year-old Hurts said after his start that he struggled to strike out batters.
“I think I have to be better at pitching when I’m leading,” the left-hander told reporters. Quote from MASN’s Bobby Blanco“I think I throw my off-speed pitches a little bit too high up the middle, and they’re taking advantage of that right now. I think it’s just about executing.”
It was the second straight time Hurts failed to complete four innings, having previously pitched 3 2/3 innings in a rotation at Coors Field, throwing 76 pitches before Martinez was brought into the bullpen, after which Hurts explained he was “a little tired” and “starting to slip off.”
Before last night’s game, Martinez said he wasn’t too concerned about Hertz’s relatively short time on the mound, explaining that at this point in his career, he just wants to see the left-hander out there and compete for as long as possible.
“If it’s four innings, he’ll give it his all for four innings, great, and we’ll see what happens from there,” the manager said. “But he’s done well. He’s come a long way. He’s pitching well.”
Hertz dominates New York MetsHe struck out 10 of the 22 batters he faced and allowed just one run in five innings in a game played in the nation’s capital on Tuesday night. 2⁄3 He threw 92 pitches in the inning, 70 of which were strikes, resulting in 16 strikeouts, nine of which were fastballs, and 19 of which were strikes, nine of which were fastballs, with the speed going from 94 mph to a high of 96.3 mph.
Hurts allowed just three hits in five scoreless innings before Francisco Lindor blasted a 1-2 fastball to left field at 403 feet to put the home team up 2-1 at Nationals Park, the only run he allowed. Hurts struck out his ninth and 10th batters with the first two outs of the inning, but then gave up a single to Pete Alonso with two outs to end his time on the mound.
The Nationals were leading 2-1, but the Mets tied the game in the top of the eighth and then scored five runs in the top of the tenth to take the win.
DJ Hurts brings energy to division match⚡️
of @NationalsThe 12th-ranked prospect allowed just one run and struck out 10 batters in 5 2/3 innings in his sixth major league start. pic.twitter.com/Z0At2reVds
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 3, 2024
“We need to start winning in regular time, that’s what we need to do,” Martinez said after his team’s sixth loss in eight overtime games this season.
“I need to improve my hitting a little bit,” he added.
“And you can’t just get two or three runs and expect to beat a team that is notorious for scoring big runs. We’ve got to start getting better at batting.”
“But what DJ Hurts did today was amazing,” Martinez said.[Herz] “The pitching has been really good. To me, that’s what we need to see. Our young pitchers are keeping us in the game. We have a chance to win games. We just have to close games out. We have to score runs and get in the scoreboard. We have to start beating teams, not just 2-2, 2-1, 3-2 all the time.”
This includes:
MLB rookie strikeout leaders since DJ Hurts debuted on June 4:
1. Paul Skenes – 40
2. DJ Hurts – 37 (including 10 tonight)— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) July 3, 2024
Josiah Gray to undergo elbow MRI
“Honestly, I felt really good coming into this job,” Josiah Gray said. Quote by MASN writer Mark ZuckermanHe spoke about how he is progressing in his recovery from a right elbow/forearm flexor injury that put him on the disabled list in April and about making his fifth start during his rehab assignment.
“Then in between innings, I didn’t feel like my recovery was going well,” he explained. “I just felt a little tired. I told my trainer, I tried to take a lead. We’ll see how it goes after the MRI.”
Gray’s manager, Davey Martinez, said Tuesday that the 26-year-old right-hander plans to wait a little while before undergoing an MRI during the All-Star break.
“We wanted to give him some time,” Martinez said.
“So we’re going to shut him up and stop him from pushing this case further. So this is just part of what they’ve decided to do.”
Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images
“I’m a little worried right now,” he admitted. “We got him going and he looked good.
“He didn’t have any velocity last time he pitched. He said he was just tired. He didn’t have any feeling in his arm. So we’ll see how it goes.”
“He did everything he could,” Martinez added during a separate pre-game meeting with reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s part of the game. It’s unfortunate. It’s a setback, but hopefully it’ll all work out.”
Leftover wood:
Ahead of Wood’s MLB debut on Monday night, manager Davey Martinez called him a “quiet but very talented 21-year-old with a bright future,” but also told reporters that Wood is the team’s top prospect and the No. 3 overall prospect in the country according to Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, and that he’s ready for all the attention he’s getting leading up to his debut.
“He’s OK. He’s OK,” Martinez said.
“If you think about it, he’s been in the spotlight for a while now. If you look at ESPN and the polls, he’s a top-10 prospect. So he understands what’s involved with playing here. My job is to help him get through it, understand what we’re trying to do, what he needs to do, and go from there.”
Martinez sounded a bit annoyed when asked if a team in need of offensive bolstering was putting too much of a burden on Wood early on.
“I’m not putting any pressure on him,” said the seventh-year captain, adding that he’s advised Wood to “just integrate with the team. I said he’ll be batting sixth today, but you never know where he’ll be batting against right-handed hitters. I just want him to integrate with the team. of Man, just Man.”
Martinez also pushed back when asked if he was the face of the rebuild now that the young outfielder is the face of the franchise and part of what the franchise is building in D.C.
“We’ve got another young guy here who’s doing pretty well and he’s going to get even better with CJ. [Abrams]”It’s definitely exciting to have those two guys come in, it’s exciting to have the other guys that are coming up. I don’t want him to think he’s a face of anything. I just want him to play baseball,” Martinez said, referring to the shortstop who was traded to the Nationals in 2022 along with Wood in the Juan Soto (and Josh Bell) trade, along with starting pitcher Mackenzie Gore, pitching prospect Jarlin Susana and outfield prospect Robert Hassell III. “It’s definitely exciting to have those two guys come in, it’s exciting to have the other guys that are coming up. I don’t want him to think he’s a face of anything. I just want him to play baseball.”
With the additions of Abrams, Gore and Wood, Martinez was asked if the team is getting closer to the critical mass and next-gen competitive roster that it has been putting together through trades and the draft since restarting at the 2021 trade deadline.
“We’re getting there, we’re getting close,” he said.
“Like I said, he’s just one of many players that will help us at the major league level, but we’re very excited about the future and what James Wood and our other players can bring to the table.”
