Washington Nationals news & notes: Rain in St. Louis washed out opener three innings in; CJ Abrams as leadoff man + more…

I’m sorry, Mr. Bullpen:

Trevor Williams finished the first half of his two-year/$13 million contract with the Washington Nationals with a 4.45 ERA, 5.41 FIP, and a losing record of 30 walks (2.97 BB/5-5). He has 91 IP in 18 starts this season, 9), 68 strikeouts (6.73K/9) and a .278/.333/.489 batting average.

The 31-year-old Williams allowed seven hits, three walks and four earned runs in six innings in a 7-2 loss. texas rangers, reached a season-high 110 pitches in his first-half finale, but that’s going to happen more often in the veteran’s eighth season in Major League Baseball, who spent his time in the bullpen and rotation in New York (National League). “Maybe,” said the director. Between 2021 and 2022 he MetsRivals in this winter division.

Davey Martinez said he’s still trying to put Williams back together because he started most of his career before going to New York.

“I think we can do more,” Martinez explained, noting that he was forced to let Williams go a little extra after rain forced starter Mackenzie Gore off after conceding just one goal. ¹⁄₃ IPs and managers from previous games had to put together long games.

“We also have to remember, Trevor, the last few years he’s been throwing out of the bullpen as a spot starter, not a starter, so he’s growing.

“I felt like he was pretty strong today, so I put him in for the sixth time.”

“We all know we had to cover almost nine innings out of the bullpen yesterday,” Williams told reporters. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN.

“That’s my job. My job is to give you as many bullets as possible.” It was six times today

Williams broke through by just two points ²⁄₃ In last night’s series opener at Busch Stadium, he pitched 52 innings and allowed a solo homer with two outs. St. Louis CardinalsOutfielder Lars Nootvar caught a fastball that went up in the zone with a one-two, and Nutvar shot 404 feet to left center in the first inning, then struck out four in a row, and hit six in a row before hitting a runner. became. The opening of the skies forced a delay, and eventually a postponement…

I hope your bullpen arms and starters get a rest during the All-Star break…

Martinez said of Williams’ trip it was “good”. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN Postpone.

“Good two-seamer. His slider was really good today. It’s a shame. The rain hit him again. But he threw a really good ball for us.”

Did Candy get hurt?:

Jaymer Candelario was in good form before being hit by a pitch in his knee in the days before the All-Star break.

Candelario, 29, is playing on a one-year/$5 million contract with the Nats this season, and has gone 26-for-84 (.310/.376/.607) in the final 22 games of what is known as the first half of the season. )was. He, he pitched in a tough spot, but he wanted to keep going while he was in good form.

“If he’s okay, he’s okay,” said Davey Martinez after Candelario missed one game and then returned to the lineup as DH (1 for 4, hit HR when he came back). “He wants to keep swinging the bat. And if I feel good enough tomorrow, I’ll go back to third base, and if not, I’ll see how he feels and go from there.”

But in the first at-bat of the second half, Candelario left the lineup between the first and second at-bats last night after a rough 76 mph, two-strike curve from Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas failed. problem?

This is a difficult time for Candelario to deal with. After a sluggish year with the Tigers in 2022, he bounced back spectacularly with a one-year deal with the Nationals and is one of two trade-chip candidates for a restart. The ball club in Washington DC has a trade deadline in a few weeks at the end of the month.

“He’s obviously missing the first game,” Martinez said after the postponement. “Let’s see how he feels going into game two.”

Candelario reiterated that he’s been swinging well and hopes to be back tomorrow night as he wants to get in shape for the second half.

Leadoff Abrams:

Davey Martinez had planned to wait until after the All-Star break before moving CJ Abrams to the top of the Nationals’ lineup, but made the decision before the series opener, the final game of the “first half” of the season. to take action. Abrams, 22, responded to the move by hitting 6-for-12 in his first three games as Washington’s leadoff man, reaching in all three and stealing three bases.

“He’s been really good,” Martinez said after using Abrams again as leadoff man last night in St. Louis.

“He’s done a great job at bat. He’s just trying to get to base, he’s not trying to do much,” the manager continued. “But what I like is that he’s more aggressive on base.

“He’s going ahead and trying to steal more and pushing the boundaries a little bit. That’s great. That’s what I wanted to see.”

Photo credit: Tasos Katapodis/Getty Images

“I talked to him before I did him,” Martinez added.

“The biggest thing for me is slowing down his chase speed. He’s done that, so far so good.”

Martinez was asked if the move to the top spot meant more at-bats for Abrams, but said the biggest consideration would be testing young shortstops to see where they are now in terms of development. Stated.

“He’s going to have a lot of plate appearances,” the manager said. “More than that, like I said, I wanted to test him a little bit to see what kind of situation he was in. See if he could mentally handle it.” He has all the ability to do that, but the biggest thing was chasing, getting the ball in the zone, when he got the ball in the zone, he really got the ball. I started to see it a little bit, and I knew it was about time, and like I said, I was going to wait until the break was over, but I got up and said, “I want to do it now.” I was. This way, after the break he will understand what he needs to do, get it done and we will see where he is. ”

Did the sixth-year captain see evidence in Abrams’ first three games that he’s become more selective in his new role? Did they want him to be more selective?

“It’s not necessarily that we need to see more balls, but we understand who he is and that he needs to hit the balls he thinks he can hit, and he’s done it really well so far. I’m doing it,” Martinez said.

Photo credit: Tasos Katapodis/Getty Images

“I want him to be aggressive. They’re doing a really good job with that.”

One thing he’s noticed is that the move seems to have revitalized the infielders.

“He’s excited about it, so it’s great to see,” Martinez told reporters. “And like I said, it’s something I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do with him and I thought it was the right moment. cheered up the team of, which cheered up lane [Thomas] He’s swinging the bat so well that I hope someone gets him on base.Joey [Meneses] Suddenly I can swing the bat well, [Jeimer Candelario] He’s swinging the bat so well that he’ll have another player on base who can make things happen. ”