Washington Nationals news & notes: Mitchell Parker goes deep; Nats score early, dry up in 6-3 loss to Marlins…

Washington Nationals manager Davey Martinez spoke at length with reporters earlier this week about managing pitcher workloads as the season draws to a close and how he plans to manage the starting rotation down the stretch to get everyone through to the end of the schedule.

Obviously no starter wants to be taken out early, but there are several young pitchers in the rotation that Martinez and his coaching staff will be watching closely.

As for 24-year-old Mitchell Parker, who had made 26 starts as of last night since being promoted to make his MLB debut in mid-April, Martinez said he and the left-hander have discussed making him a full-season starter.

“I talked to Mitchell about some things in Pittsburgh,” Martinez said, “but I asked him how he was feeling and he said, ‘Physically, I’m feeling really good.’ But with that being said, September is going to be a mental game. Guys are playing for different reasons, but they’ve got to focus on what they’ve done and what they’ve done leading up to September and understand that it’s going to be tough physically and mentally. It really is.”

Parker, a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft, had a 4.43 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 39 walks (2.58 BBs per nine innings), 122 strikeouts (8.07 Ks per nine innings) with a .259 ERA/.309 on-base percentage/.418 slugging percentage (.433) in 136 innings before facing the Miami Marlins in the series opener in Washington, D.C.After pitching a total of 124 minor league innings last season).

Martinez doesn’t want Parker to think about the big picture just yet, but he did sit down with Parker recently to discuss what he’s accomplished and where he sees room for improvement.

“My biggest thing with Mitchell was telling him, ‘When you focus on what you need to do on any given day, you’re really good.

“Stay focused on that and don’t worry about the end result.”

“We all know the end game is near. ‘Let’s focus on the process, not the outcome.’ And that’s what he was really good at in the beginning.”

“When he was on a really good day, he was just focused on what he had to do to get the out and didn’t really care about the outcome,” Martinez continued.

“But we need to get him back on track. I told him, ‘Hey, what I want to tell you right now is, you’ve done really well. I didn’t expect you to be here so soon, to be honest with you. With all the stuff that was going on, we asked you to come here and you’ve done really well for us.’

“‘You’ve done a great job for your first term, let’s keep it going and get ready for next year.’

Parker avoided an error in the first inning and then smoothly retired the Marlins in the second, but after the Nationals led 3-0 in the third inning, he found himself in a tough spot after a hit by pitch, a throwing error on a fielder’s choice, an RBI grounder and a sacrifice fly allowed the visitors to take a two-run lead.

With Miami leading 3-2, Parker calmly got out eight straight batters, then singled with one out in the sixth, then batted two batters later with two outs, losing 10 of 11 sets after the third inning.

Parker’s time on the mound came to an end after he gave up a single with one out in the seventh inning. He threw 76 pitches, allowing three hits and two runs (none earned), striking out five of the 25 batters he faced, 14 with eight splitters, and seven with five curveballs.

“Mitchell pitched well after struggling for three or four games,” Martinez said after the 6-3 loss to the Fish.

“He was good. He did everything we asked him to do between starts. His fastball was good, his split was really good. But he got us through the seventh inning.”

What did you ask Parker to focus on in between outings?

“He’s got to work hard and give it his all to get back to what kind of player he was. He’s got to find his splitter, figure out how to use it again and stay within himself.”

“Don’t get upset, pace yourself. He did a good job today.”

Martinez continued to pitch as a starter in the seventh inning with the team leading 3-2, but was moved to relief after allowing a hit in the seventh inning.

“He was pitching really well, keeping guys off balance and had a good fastball,” the seventh-year manager said.

“His fastball was good, his fastball location was good and he pitched it for the first time in a couple of starts, so that was encouraging.”

“He threw the ball up when he needed to, which he’s really good at, but his splits were really good too.”

“I’ve been pressuring myself the last few starts, and that’s not my personality,” Parker told reporters in his post-game comments. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.

“We had some good discussions and practiced in between games last week. We just went out there and did what we always do.”

This too:

Dylan Crews Last night against the Marlins, he had 2-for-4 hits, 1 RBI and 1 run scored, and as the Nationals highlighted in their post-game notes, the 22-year-old rookie “…has had a hit in 12 of his first 15 games and has a run in 9 of his first 15 games.”

The crew also did the following:

His Visit 106.7 the FAN weekly at DC’s Sports Junkies This week, GM and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo spoke about what he’s been getting from the 2023 first-round draft pick (No. 2) since making his MLB debut last month.

Cruz is batting .241/.308/.448 with three doubles and three home runs in 15 games and 65 at-bats so far, and Rizzo said Cruz’s talent is clear.

“He’s shown his skills very clearly and I think like almost every young player that’s been here, the consistency is what needs to improve,” Rizzo told Junkies.

“He has the skills, temperament and qualities to be a big-time player in the big leagues and I think he’s done a great job of it in a very short period of time,” said Brown. [span]I think he’s shown everything he needs to show that. [prove] He belongs here, and now he has to deal with the consistency and day-to-day challenges of this major league season.

“He’s got a lot to learn and he’s just scratched the surface, but I think he’s going to be a really good player for us.”