Welcome to Washington, Mr. Williams:
Trevor Williams allowed only one hit, two walks and one strikeout in a 52-pitch effort in his first outing in Washington in the final exhibition game of the spring at Nationals Park last week. threw without scoring. The Knotts signed a two-year, $13 million free agency deal this winter.
Clearly his first start with a DC home team, five appearances and threes for the 30-year-old seven-year veteran will start his career at the park as a member of the opposition.
“It was nice to finish four times. We were shooting about 50 pitches,” Williams said after going out. In the words of MASN’s Bobby Blanco.
“So it was good to get up there, get four ups and have some clean innings. Big League vibe, good to be pitching in a Big League stadium. This is the white jersey, this is it.” It was a fun first date in white pants.Today I look out over the ballpark from a slightly different angle and can’t wait for the regular season to start.”
His first regular season trip with his third major league team did not get off to a good start.
Williams had two quick outs in last night’s series opener in the capital’s Tampa Bay, but a close game at first base favored the Rays. 2 run shots and a 429-foot fast-pitch fastball to center field for a 2-0 lead.
A couple singles on a soft ground ball and a close game at second and first put runners on second and third bases, and it was one out. Williams spiked the throw to first base with Josh Lowe’s slow roller, tripped the dribbler off Manuel Margot’s bat, fell and performed a stomach-to-base toss, and Margot’s foot slammed Dominic Smith’s glove into Smith’s hand. bounced first when knocked from Davey Martinez insisted on a jamming call because the runners were out of his lane, but the Inquisitor disagreed and a sack on his fly resulted in his third run, a 3-0 raise.
Isaac Paredes hit a 1-0 dangling slider, middle middle out to left in the top of the fourth, a leadoff blast mid-stand, and a 404-foot shot gave the Rays a 4-0 lead. became.
With Williams up to 93 pitches after the fifth, the Nationals went to the pen in the sixth to trail the Rays 4-0…
Trevor Williams quote: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 Ks, 2 HR, 93 P, 59 S, 6/3 GO/FO.
Mason Thompson threw the scoreless two in relief, but after the Knotts got on the board for the only run that ended in the series, he scored in the third inning of the half-inning eight-inning 5-1 Rays job. Giving up a home run・Opening loss. In the ninth inning runoff Anthony Banda made it 6-1 and Jaymer Candelario hit his first home run as a nut to left center to make it 6-2 and that’s how it ended.
“There have been some unlucky plays,” Martinez said in summarizing Williams’ start after suffering a third loss in the first four games. “He hit hard with a few balls left, but overall, we saw him make a few plays out of the inning in the first inning and then — that he wasn’t injured. Thank goodness he went down…could have gotten it and another little grounder that should have come out…but i thought he was fine…he went into 6 innings. I knew I wanted to go out, but I threw over 90 pitches in five innings, so I thought that was a good thing.”
Williams expressed frustration over the “unfortunate play” he was unable to make, saying he made several mistakes that Rays hitters had and hit with everything.
“Rayleigh’s home run was down-and-away,” Williams explained.
“He had a good swing and is a really good hitter.
“Unfortunately, at this level, big league hitters are the real deal, so they can’t make a lot of mistakes.”
“There were some pitches he wanted back,” Martinez added.
Abrams is back:
CJ Abrams’ name is listed as part of the Nuts’ starting lineup for the third game of the regular season after committing three errors in the season opener and going 7-0 at bat in the first two games of the new campaign. It was not. .
“It was the schedule before the season started,” Martinez explained.
“After considering everything, I wanted to give him the day off.”
Martinez was asked how he wanted the 22-year-old infielder to handle his off days after the game (TRUE small sample size) erratic start.
“He’s actually very good,” Martinez said. He said, “Hey, I’m ready to accept whatever you need me for.”
“I said, ‘Get ready. We’ll probably need you.’
Abrams wasn’t set to play in the finale against the Braves, but he went 0-3 on walks last night against the Rays.
He hit a left fly in the final at-bat of the game but was caught.
“He sucked the last one into left field. Just a tough break,” Martinez said.
Dickerson/Outfielder Update:
Davey Martinez didn’t have the results of an MRI of Corey Dickerson’s calf on Sunday.
“Those calf things,” Martinez said. We’ll see how it goes, hopefully it won’t take long, but calves are very rare. ”
With Dickerson on the injured list and Stone Garrett calling from Triple-A on Sunday, the manager was asked who would get time in left field, with Alex Cole and Dickerson on the Opening Day roster as platoon partners. made it
Regarding the lineup decision, Martinez said, “Yeah, I think we’ll look at the matchup.
“But I think Alex [Call] got the chance to play there [Ildemaro] With the right match, Vargas can also play.”
Vargas received the left-in call for Monday night’s series opener against Tampa Bay.
“[Call is] I will definitely play,” Martinez said before the game.
“There’s a lot of left-handers coming up, so for me it’s all about getting Vargas out and getting an at-bat.
“We hope to have Stone here again soon, but I envision Alex getting a lot of playing time.”
In the 31-year-old’s seven-year veteran career, he made just six starts in the outfield, but Martinez has seen enough of Vargas in the outfield that he’d consider putting him in left field. He said he was comfortable.
“As you know, he does well at the Winter Ball,” explained the manager. “He often plays left field. Runs really well and jumps well with the ball.My biggest thing when you have someone playing infield is the throwing part.He doesn’t hurt his arm, he tries to change the angle of his arm and he I just understand, get the ball in as fast as you can and get it in. You don’t have to worry about trying to kick people out.He’s a big part of our bench and he’s a backup I’m worried about that because I’m a shortstop and a middle fielder.
An injured Dickerson was frustrating enough for outfielders and managers.
“We’re doing everything we can to help them stay healthy and ready for spring training, but it’s a shame,” Martinez said.
“It’s a bad part of the game and it happens, but I can’t wait to have him back because he’s such a big part of our line-up. But Vargas and others It’s great that players can play. [Michael] Chavis can play if needed and Stone [Garrett].
“So we’re covered, but like I said, when you’ve been through spring training this early and you’re feeling good, when something like this happens, it really stinks.”
Look at Victor:
Victor Robles went 15 to 47 (.319/.360/.511) last night. Having had four doubles, a triple and a home run in 18 Grapefruit League games this spring, he went 7-2 at the start of the season with two singles and three walks in his first three games. and achieved OBP .500.
His manager, Davey Martinez, said the stats were what he looked at when judging Robles’ performance before the start of the second series in 2023.
“For me it’s on-base percentage,” he explained. “We also talk a lot about the team’s at-bat and what they do at the team’s at-bat. Drive under 2 outs with guys on 3rd base on free runs, these are minor things I’d love to see Victor do he’s great he’s really great and we told him this spring And that’s great, he’s already on quite a few bases, but that’s about it He wants to do it now and that’s great.
“It took years, but we finally got him to teach us, ‘You can do it, you can do it.
“I think home runs are coming for him. He’s strong and hits the ball pretty hard, but you can’t force him, he just plays.”
Patience at the plate and more discerning pitch selection will only help Robles in his attempt to get the bat, Martinez continued.
“Suddenly, he started going into the hitters’ count, and then he started hitting the ball hard,” Martinez said.
“Instead of being 0-1, or 0-2 all the time, I’m basically fighting for my life there. 1 and potentially a very good pitch to hit and drive the ball, and we’re getting close to that with him.
The manager was also thrilled to see Robles holding up an RBI hit into the fourth inning of Sunday’s game. He chose not to throw home when there were no plays, instead throwing to second base to keep hitters single.
“It’s ‘Hallelujah! ‘ Right?” Martinez asked rhetorically. “I mean, we always tell him, ‘Keep the double play neat,'” although he had two outs in this situation, so this is actually more general advice. is.
“If you don’t have the chance, why force it?” he continued. “And we applauded him for that, too. The fact that he once airmailed that ball and he showed up was like, ‘Probably not a good idea,’ and the ball to second base.” Because the fact that we brought back was great. ”