Rotational Rolling:
Mitchell Parker kept the Nationals’ starting rotation going on Sunday afternoon, pitching six innings and allowing just one run.
In his post-game notes following the win, Washington’s starting pitcher highlighted the Nationals’ 5-1 record in their past six games, with a “1.03 ERA (4 earned runs, 35.0 innings pitched), .198 batting average, 37 strikeouts and 7 walks.”
The series finale win against Miami gave the Nationals three straight wins over their NL East rival. The Nationals went 2-11 against Miami in 2023 but are now 7-0 this season.
“You have to beat teams in your division to know where you are,” Davey Martinez said after Sunday’s win, which moved his team 4.0 games back of second in the division (12.0 games back of first place) and into a tie for the final wild-card spot after 71 games. “We’ve done that. [the Marlins]”… That’s the only way you win your division, right? You have to beat the teams in your division.”
“Overall it was a good weekend,” Martinez said in Sunday’s post-match press conference.
“Our pitching was good. We scored when we needed to. Our defense was good. We’ve got some areas to improve on, but I’m really proud of the way our guys played.”
Martinez was especially proud of the way his starting pitchers performed in the series, noting that left-hander Mackenzie Gore7.0 IP, 1 ER, 10K), DJ Hertz (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 13K), and Parker led the club to a perfect victory.
All three left-handed pitchers are under the age of 25 (Gore, 25; Hurts, 23; Parker, 24) and the only right-handers currently in the starting rotation — Jake Irvin, 27; Josiah Gray, 26; and Cade Cavalli, 25 — are all working through their rehabs, Martinez said, noting that all of these young pitchers have emerged and made an impact over the past year-plus.
“I feel like they’re still learning. What I like about this group in general is how well they compete,” Martinez said.
“They’re definitely going out there and competing and understanding what we’re trying to do. They’re following what we’re trying to tell them every day. It’s great, it really is.”
“Watching them grow, learning how to avoid big situations and how to pitch in big situations, they’re incredible.”
The seventh-year manager said his starting pitchers got the message loud and clear that to succeed in the majors and stay in the major league starting rotation, they need to attack the strike zone.
Martinez said much of the credit goes to pitching coach Jim Hickey and assistant pitching coach and pitching strategist Sean Doolittle.The same goes for minor league coaches and player development personnel throughout the organization.).
“[Credit goes to] “The fact that Hickey and Doolittle and we keep preaching, ‘If you want to pitch here, you’ve got to throw the ball in the zone.’ That’s exactly what we’re doing. Just do it the same way we do with the other guys. I talked to Jake Irvin last year: ‘You’ve got to throw the ball in the zone.’ The hitters here are a little better, they understand the strike zone. So you’ve got to be in the strike zone. Because it’s hard to pitch 2-0, 3-1, 3-0, and when you start doing that, you start giving up walks and it becomes a problem.”
Parker took that advice to heart in spring training after Martinez and company made it clear to him, he said.
“This all started in spring training,” the manager said. They told him as simply as they could: “‘Hey, just limit your walks and you’ll be pitching in the major leagues.'”
“His pitches have always been good, but you’ve got to limit the walks. You can’t take a free pass here. You get outs. And he’s done that job. He understands, ‘I’ve got to throw strikes.’ And he’s always stepped up to the plate and given us the innings we need, and he’s pitched really well.”
With Irvin (last season), and Parker and Hurts (this season) being promoted and quickly integrating and contributing, Martinez was asked before Sunday’s game if the younger pitchers are developing into more effective pitchers, a sign of change throughout the organization.
“Organizationally we’re very focused on throwing strike one, really getting ahead of the game, using the fastball, when and how to throw the fastball, how to figure out where the fastball is and most importantly, throwing it from above the plate,” Martinez explained.
“We try to get our guys to understand that efficiency is key. I always say hitting is hard, especially when you have to hit with two strikes.
“So the emphasis throughout our organization is getting our guys to throw strikes. Everybody knows they throw a fastball. You can talk about spin and horizontal and vertical and all that, but the key is to throw strikes. Whatever you do, throw strikes first. We’re teaching our guys a lot more about using curveballs and how effective it is to throw for strikes early in the count. So our guys have been doing pretty well with changeups and curveballs as well. But there’s definitely an emphasis in our organization on bringing guys here and making them understand that nothing’s going to change. It’s about coming in here and throwing strikes and pitching the ball past home plate. We talk a lot about misses. When you know you can throw strikes, if you miss around home plate, you’re going to strike out. And that’s happening a lot with our team.”
“You can throw 100 miles per hour, but if you’re always throwing second and third pitches, it’s not going to do you any good.”
Winker Knee:
“I think we really averted a crisis,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after an MRI on Jesse Winker’s right knee showed no structural damage. Winker hurt his knee Saturday afternoon in the nation’s capital when he rounded the bases, backed up and slid back to second base.
“He was in a lot of pain yesterday so we thought maybe he had some damage to the knee, but obviously that wasn’t the case, so that’s good,” Martinez said.
“It’s nothing major and it’s not going to prevent me from playing,” Winker said. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman on Sunday. “I think I just need to take a few days off.”
“Everything looked pretty good,” Martinez added. “It’s a little inflamed, but we feel it will clear up in a few days.”
Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images
“That’s good news. When they told me it was my knee I thought it was going to be a bigger issue. So far so good.”
Winker, who signed a one-year, $2 million contract with D.C. this offseason after appearing in 68 games and 268 at-bats this season, is batting .265/.378/.390 with 10 doubles and six home runs. Brewers 2023.
Martinez said that after a few months into the season, he has come to appreciate what Winker brings to the club.
“He plays hard. He loves to play the game and he gives it his all every day, so I love that about him.”
“And like I said before, he’s been playing really well in the clubhouse and on the field and he’s engaged, so that’s a good thing. So hopefully we’ll have him back soon.”
And when he does return, the Nationals captain will be keeping a close eye on him to make sure he stays healthy and in good shape for the remainder of the season.
“We’re definitely going to keep an eye on him. Hopefully this doesn’t become something that drags on.”
