williams vs the white socks:
Trevor Williams took the mound last night at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, Illinois, and had a very impressive performance in his four starts. The 32-year-old nine-year veteran from Washington posted a .206 batting average with a 0.86 ERA and 2.47 FIP. He has a line of .263/.206 in 21 innings.
That year, Williams was keeping the ball in the garden (Last year, he started 30 games and hit 34 home runs in 144 at-bats, leading the National League, which became a problem. 1⁄3 IP), no home runs were allowed in his first 36 at-bats. 1⁄3 This season.
The key to his success?
“Keep holding the ball. Moving forward. That’s the important thing,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after Williams pitched five scoreless innings against the Orioles in the nation’s capital.
“He’s mixing up his pitches. Utilizing his fastball when he needs to. But the biggest thing is he’s holding the ball down for the most part.”
Williams allowed his first home run of the season in the home half of the second inning when White Sox DH Eloy Jimenez hit a 1-1 fastball into the zone and inside corner, but he allowed two more runs in the fifth inning. , an ugly defensive inning for the visiting club, after which the starters were replaced and they threw a total of 81 pitches, with 48 strikes and just 6 swings, but 14 total strikes were called on the night. it was done.
Photo credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images
Although he was not involved in this decision and left the game tied at 3-3, with the Nationals ultimately winning 6-3, Williams continued his strong performance and posted his previous post-game comments. talked about. This season is working for him.
“It’s pitch execution,” Williams said.
“As a starting pitcher, you’re trying to outdo other starting pitchers. [White Sox’ starter Chris] Flexen did a great job today, he had a lot of swings and misses, was banging the zone early, and it’s going to be one of those games where that’s going to happen – but the first blink was a problem. I think it’s going to be, but the fact that we were able to play the way we’ve been playing, especially coming out of the rain and playing an early game like this, to be able to take it to Game 2 is huge. It was big. ”
He said the first home run allowed this season was also an execution issue.
“I’m grateful that we had some success early on. We talk about running our pitches, and we didn’t execute that today.
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Photo credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images
“Eloy is a great hitter. He’s going to make mistakes, and he did it today.”
Eddie Rosario (1 to 5) and Joey Meneses (4 vs 4) The drive-in run has been decided (One for Rosario; Meneses had two in the 5th inning.), giving the Nationals a 3-1 lead and the White Sox tying it in the bottom of the inning, Keibert Lewis and Trey Lipscomb hit RBI singles in the eighth inning, then Victor Robles hit Lewis He drove it in with a sac fly. The visiting team’s 6th and final score was 6-3.
Against Eric Fedde:
Ahead of the deadline for players to make bids or non-tenders on their contracts after the 2022 season, Nationals GM and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo announced that he will be signing a 2014 first-rounder after his sixth major league stint. They decided not to make a bid for their preferred player, Eric Fede (then 29 years old). This season, he had a 5.81 ERA, 5.15 FIP, 58 walks (4.11 BB/9), 94 strikeouts (6.66 K/9), and a batting average of .293/.362/.470 in 27 starts and 127 IP. .
“He was a first-round pick who pitched for us for six seasons and was on our championship club,” Rizzo explained. “He was one of the club’s 17 raw players in 2019, so for us he was a good big league player, a good national player, and we think it’s right for the organization not to tender. We wish him the best, but we think we’ll move forward without him. ”
“When I talk to him, it’s about him needing to establish his identity and figure out who he wants to be and what he wants to do,” coach Davey Martinez said after Fede had a sometimes tough 2023 season in D.C. We’re talking about the fact that there is,” he said. We are moving forward. I know he has to get better. We’re talking about him having to attack the strike zone. Location is a big thing for him. Throw the ball where he wants it. He needs to develop his changeup a little better, but he’s got a live arm and is really good when he’s on. But that’s the consistency with him. He must start stabilizing every 5 days. ”
Fedde eventually signed with the KBO’s DC Dinos, giving him a $1 million contract and dominating the league in his first season, winning 20 games, posting a 2.00 ERA, 2.38 FIP, and giving up 35 walks (1.75 BB/9). , recorded 209. Ks (10.43 K/9) 180 or more 1⁄3 IP.
After a stellar run in the KBO, Fedde, now 31, signed a two-year/$15 million contract with the Chicago White Sox and picked up where he left off in South Korea on Chicago’s South Side, posting a 3.00 ERA. . Until last night at home against his former team, he had a 4.27 FIP, 14 walks (2.80 BB/9), 44 Ks (8.80 K/9), and .221/.287 in his first eight starts and over 45 IP. He recorded a line of /.384. Fill in the Guaranteed Rate field.
he told reporters: Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASNbefore the game, talked about some of the changes he made last season (more changeup, sweeper instead of slider), and the right-hander shared his thoughts on playing against the Nats for the first time in his career. .
Fedde admitted that “it’s going to be weird” to play against the team that helped him develop in the draft and gave him his first chance (and a lot of chances) in the majors.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a W on the other side of the field,” he said. “They’ve always been kind to me and treated me well. There are no hard feelings. …Of course I want to pitch well in every start, but I want to go out and show what I’ve been doing. I think.”
Fedde pitched seven scoreless innings in the nightcap of the doubleheader, leading the club to a 4-0 victory.
Did Martinez see anything different in Fede this time compared to when the right-handed pitcher was pitching for the Nationals?
“His mistakes were definitely over the top. His splits were good tonight, his cutters were good,” Martinez said. “I thought he threw a really good ball. He really did. He mixed up all his pitches. The biggest thing was his mistakes were near the zone.
“If you can do that, the players will really start swinging the bat and going after you. I thought he did a good job with that.”
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Photo credit: Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images
Reflecting on the split throughout the doubleheader, Martinez said he needed to be a little more disciplined offensively (and defensively, the club faced challenges in recent games and the first of two games in Chicago as well) ).
“Our big problem is when we start chasing, we’re not very good. We keep the ball in the zone, we see some balls go up, we make a count and then we put the ball in play. We have to,” Martinez said of the offense in both games.
“Nothing progressed in the second game, it was the same thing. We are just chasing divisions.
“Fede threw some good ones, he threw some good cutters, but we needed to get him in the zone.
W If you do that, it will work pretty well. It’s always good to get a split and get a chance to win the series tomorrow. So I’ll take a little rest and do my best to win 1-0 tomorrow. ”
