Friday:
Trevor Williams got off to a tough start in his second game of the spring in West Palm Beach last week.
Williams allowed a leadoff home run, back-to-back singles, and a three-run outburst that put him and the Nationals in an early 4-0 hole, but they ultimately lost 9-4. astros.
All four hits came from inside the zone, and the 31-year-old veteran left-hander scored 55 points in the third and final inning, hitting back-to-back singles and scoring an RBI in his second. After arriving at camp late after having his child, he pitched 38 strikeouts in his second start of the spring.
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Williams, 31, pitched 144 1/3 innings, posting a 5.55 ERA, 5.98 FIP, 53 walks, 111 Ks, a National League-leading 34 home runs, and a batting average of .300/.359/.533. . He started 30 games in the first year of a two-year/$13 million free agent contract in Washington.
Entering his second season in D.C., he said he feels good despite starting second.
“At this point in camp, I’m feeling good,” Williams said. Quoted by MASN’s Bobby BlancoAfter the start.
“We feel like we’re where we’re supposed to be. I think we threw 55 pitches, almost 60 pitches today, so it was good and positive to get to that amount today. … It’s something we really want to do. I thought I did all that. Spring training is a day where you look at the positives more than the results. So at this point in camp, I’m exactly where I need to be.”
“He started off a little bit late,” coach Davey Martinez said of Williams’ start.
“His changeup wasn’t as effective as it was in his first outing. But overall I thought he threw the ball well. He made some good pitches. They didn’t hit the ball particularly hard. It wasn’t. They hit (two home runs). I thought he threw the ball well. So he’s got to get better at commanding his changeup.”
Williams’ No. 3 start on Friday started again with a leadoff home run, and he allowed three more hits and two more runs by the time he finished the inning.
He retired the next eight batters he faced, but before putting on a runner with an error, he got one out and hit a double play, and in the final fifth inning, he allowed only three hits and threw 68 pitches and 48 strikes. It ended with that. The Nationals won 7-3.
Saturday:
Things didn’t go so well for the Nationals’ pitching staff on Saturday, with Luis Perdomo (4H, 2BB, 3ER in 1IP), Dylan Floro (2H, 1ER, 1IP), and Tanner Rainey (3BB). , 1 ER, 2 Ks in 1 IP) and Robert Garcia (3 H, 1 BB, 3 ER, 2 Ks, 1 IP) combined after starting with two scoreless hits from Derek Law. , a bullpen game that allowed 8 ER in 9H in 4 IP.
“Some of these guys get more at-bats when they play against major league hitters,” Davey Martinez said. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASNAfter the match:
“There’s more pitches. It’s not a five-, six-, seven-pitch inning. That’s what I wanted to see. I wanted to see them go deeper in the count and see what would happen. And we saw that today. How many people. Those guys competed well, so it was nice to see them get through it.”
Woods’ wrist:
James Wood, 21, tweaked his wrist on an awkward swing in Friday’s spring breakout game and suffered a late scratch Saturday, but Nationals fans were disappointed in Saturday’s loss to the Cardinals. We had to wait until later for an explanation, but MASN’s Mark Zuckerman heard it. The Nats captain said this while speaking to reporters during the post-game presser.
“It was a weird swing, so I didn’t want to take any chances,” Martinez said. “He feels totally fine. He said he could play today. But I said, ‘You’re playing well.’ Let’s just give him one day.” Then we’ll take you back outside. ”
Wood, a 2021 second-round pick of the Padres acquired from San Diego in the Juan Soto (and Josh Bell trade in 2022), is 12-for-37 (.324/.457/.649). He had a double, a triple, and three RBIs. He hit an impressive home run this spring in Grapefruit League action.
