Is Irvin continuing to improve?:
Before returning to the mound for a third time following the club’s decision to take Jake Irvin one turn out of the rotation, Davey Martinez told reporters behind the scenes that the 26-year-old rookie had revealed in his previous trip. He made the decision to allow him to work on some things, saying: , he thought it had the desired effect.
“He worked on some [Nationals’ Pitching Coach Jim] Hickey, and Hickey straightened him out a bit so that his hips don’t rotate as much and he stays up off his legs,” the manager said.
“It gave him a little more power in his lower body and he was able to throw better strikes, more consistent strikes. It will provide a good outing.”
Irvin gave up three runs (two ERAs) in his first two games since returning to the starting lineup, but the manager said he’s been pitching with a little more confidence since returning to the starting lineup.
In the manager’s mind, it was Irvin. “…accepting the fact that he still has some things to learn, and working with Hickey and understanding what we were trying to get out of him and how he should be, he left. We are actually working on these things. He, as I said before, will be one of the players we hope to see in the future.
“He’s a kid and he’s going to be a player who can throw us six or seven innings. He was injured before, but we got him back. And now he’s got his body back. I’m starting to take advantage of it the way it’s supposed to and really understand what I can do when throwing a Strike One.
“When he goes first, he has a great changeup, a good curveball and a fastball, but he needs to move forward.”
Irvin conceded two early in his third comeback start, but then calmed down (1 ER for 3 hits on 5 IPs) contributed to the club’s victory in Seattle.
“Irvin, you’ve had another good outing. He’s been there and he’s given us enough to keep us close,” Martinez said after the World War II.
Irvin pitched well in the opening game of the series against the Reds in Cincinnati last night, allowing no runs on 15 pitches in the first inning. was done. He scored on Stair’s two-out hit and Tyler Stevenson’s timeline to make the Reds 1-0.
In the top of the 4th inning, in the scene of runner 1 death 1st base, Joey Botto hit a pinch hitter in the scene of runner 1 death 1st base in the second time, sending out a center cut four seamer with a first ball of 94 miles or more. In the first inning, he reached the caution track in right field, put one runner on base, hit another shot, and then threw a meaty 394-foot fastball 394 feet to left-center, causing a two-run explosion that allowed the Reds to hit three. -0 read.
In the 3-1 fifth inning, Irvin was hit with a lead single on 20 pitches for a total of 75 at the end of the fifth, but came back with 14 clean 1-2-3. . Finished the top of the 6th inning, the 12th appearance this year…
Jake Irvin quotes: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks, 1 HR, 89 P, 56 S, 5/7 GO/FO.
Martinez, who has returned four games from a hiatus, said he was really happy with how Ervin played out.
“It was really good,” he said. “Not just the rest, but the work he put in in between to straighten out his lower body. I thought I was trying to make him understand and he was really, really, really good, he throws the ball down the face, he throws it north and he throws it south, but he’s really, really good at it. And kudos to him for allowing Hickey to talk to him about it and work on it, and like I said, he’s pitching really good.”
Key moments:
• Lane Thomas has scored in 18 of the last 20 games since hitting a timely double over the head of Reds left fielder Will Benson after bouncing a 2-1 fastball from Luke Weaver off the visitors’ bullpen. After hitting a hit, he was stopped with three outs, and Luis Garcia’s center fly advanced to third base, where Jaimer Candelario K’d drove out a high fastball and Dominic Smith grounded out. Runner/RISP starts the game 0-3.
• As the Nationals noted in their pregame notes for the series opener against the Reds, the All-Stars disdained (for now he’ll probably end up going) Jaymer Candelario was in the first of four games against Cincinnati in DC. He has hit in nine consecutive games and hit in 14 of his last 16 games, recording 21 in 61 at-bats (.344 average), 9 doubles, 3 homers, and 9 RBIs.[s]had five walks, three stolen bases, and 12 runs scored during a period of 16 games.”
Last night, with the Nationals trailing 0-3 in the fourth, Candelario came on as a substitute and threw an 87 mph, 2-1 low curve to center field 414 feet away at Nationals Park for two games. Achieved the 2nd HR in , and the 12th HR in total. 3 wins and 1 loss this season.
• Davey Martinez’s club went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position the night before the Nationals hit a big one-out hit off Keibert Lewis in the sixth, with catcher Jaymer Candelario right after the Nationals. was driven in by a line drive. The third baseman singled and advanced on Dom Smith’s single and Joey Meneses’ line drive to center (Ian Gibault, who replaced the Reds’ starting pitcher as an off-season reliever after Smith’s hit). Lewis threw an 0-2 fastball into the right field for his 31st RBI of the season, and six RBIs put the Reds up 3-2.
“I chased a little bit,” Martinez said after losing by one point in the series opener. “We had some balls in the zone and some balls that were hit hard. We have to understand that we should stay in the zone with the bat in control, we stayed in the zone and we hit the ball hard, so like I said, come back tomorrow. I’ll just come, and when I get that chance again, I’ll just hit the ball, stay in the middle of the field, and hit the ball hard.”
Bullpen action:
Jordan Weems struck out three near the two-out HBP in the seventh, returned to the hill in the eighth, and struck out the fourth batter in the eighth before Davey Martinez penned lefty Joe La Solsa. kicked out of La Sorza hit a hitter, but he got a couple of outs.
Amos Willingham allowed a single and a walk in the top of the ninth, but held both runners on base and held the game to just one run.
The B-Pen members held the game by one point through the eighth and a half, but they weren’t able to perform well in a big offensive scene, ending the night with one hit in nine and six bases remaining.
“We talk about it all the time,” Davey Martinez said after the game. It would be a different ball game then, but I could talk about Jake, how he did today, and La Sorusa, Weems, Willingham, all of them coming in and doing their jobs. So we have to come back tomorrow and try to score. ”
Return Page – To Thaddeus Ward, Illinois:
Thaddeus Ward, 26, was able to stay in the majors with a mixed record as a Rule 5 pick this winter, but after 20 and 30 appearances Monday, he suffered an inflamed right shoulder. So I landed in IL for 10 days. 1⁄3 IP out of the bullpen (For the starting pitcher turned reliever) The Nationals are looking to retain a 2018 fifth-round draft pick by Boston’s Red Sox, removing him from the pen to get him through the season so they don’t have to bring him back into the franchise. I’m trying tosocks As per rule 5 draft rules.
Ward has a 7.12 ERA, 6.95 FIP, 24 walks, 26 Ks, 7 homers, and a .234/.368/.451 batting average this season. The Nationals will not be able to participate. Try not to risk his health or his throwing arm.
“I talked to him and asked him if he was okay,” manager Davey Martinez explained after Ward’s IL transfer was announced. “He said it felt a little stiffer than usual. I just said.he spoke [Nationals’ Director of Athletic Training] Pole [Lessard]. He has a little inflammation in his right shoulder, so it will take him time to rehab and get him back in shape again. ”
When asked if the problem might be morphed for Ward, who has pitched a limited number of innings after surgery (2020), he took a breather and said that in 2023, some of the things that have caused him problems so far. It would give me time to work on something else. Martinez said he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, but he has a chance.
“I don’t want anyone going to IL, but we can use it to his advantage,” explained the captain. And he said, like I said, you won’t know if it’s really affecting him until he comes back from vacation and sees how it goes. So I would like to use this time meaningfully.
“We will strengthen him again, we will strengthen him, we will strengthen that shoulder, and we will strengthen him again.”
Ward didn’t want to use shoulder inflammation as an explanation for his below-average performance so far.
“I think performance and health are two different things,” Ward said. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN Monday afternoon.
“We all know my pitching isn’t good, but I think that’s completely separate from the ongoing shoulder inflammation.”
He, too, said he plans to use his time off wisely to make the necessary adjustments and recover.
“I took [Tommy John] I think it’s a positive thing to clean up a lot of other health related things like how to treat your body and how to eat right,” he said. As quoted on MLB.com.
“This is a unique opportunity to work on different things and sort out some things that need to be worked on.”
Random Anecdotal Corner:
Davey Martinez talks Josiah Gray shocked by All-Star selection:
“He was really shocked, really shocked. He said thank you, if it hadn’t been for them – he said, “Without you guys, this probably wouldn’t have been possible.” He said, “I represent you.” So it’s great. ”
Home/Road Division:
Washington has gone 6-3 this season (20-21) on trips to San Diego, Seattle and Philadelphia, and has reached within .500 in one away game. A 2-of-3 win in Philadelphia gave the Nationals a third consecutive series win, the first time since 2021 and the first time since 2017 on a road trip.
Now, however, Davey Martinez is back in the capital and is 13-27 in 2023 with 14 games under 0.500.
“We’ve been playing hard the whole trip, so let’s play a little better at home,” the club’s sixth-year captain said after Sunday afternoon’s final game against the Phillies. “I asked them yes, if they played a little better at home they could do better. or [after yesterday’s 19-4 loss]come back and keep it loose, then come back and win a game like this against a really good team.
“That group is special, really,” he added. “We will keep fighting, we will keep playing hard and we will come back tomorrow and try to make it 1-0.”
The fact that he won three straight on the road was unforgettable even for the relatively young ballclub.
“After the game they were jacked up,” Martinez said. “They’ve calmed down a bit now, but they were really excited, really excited. Like I said, we’re going to play hard. , play hard until 27 out, and see what happens to them in the end, and they’re the only thing they’ve done.”
How does he make sense of the club’s split between home and road so far this season?
“If we knew the answer, we would have played better at home,” Martinez said.
“We have to go home and start playing better at home. I don’t know why, but they are the same at home and on the road.
“But we definitely have to play better at home.”
The manager said his goal going into this homestand is to finish well before the All-Star break.
“I want them to compete and play hard. [season], so don’t give up now,” he said. “We know the All-Star break is coming up, but let’s get it right before the break and spend a few days there to prepare to come back and get in shape and have a better second half.”