Front Page – Goa vs. cubs:
Mackenzie Gore, 24, got off to a 101-pitch lead, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, striking out 10 of the 25 batters he faced. New York Mets At Citi Field, he generated 19 swing strikes on the night, including 12 fastballs, 4 curveballs, 3 sliders, 17 call strikes, 9 fastballs, and 8 curveballs. I picked it up with a ball.
“When you’re hitting the zone with a fastball,” said manager Davey Martinez after Washington beat its NL East rival in that game. It’s another at-bat for those hitters if they have to constantly rely on second pitching. I think the key today was throwing a strike one, a fastball and using a curveball when needed. “
“They were in the zone,” Gore said of his heaters and curves working well together.
“The fastball was good tonight. We were throwing pretty hard. We were in all the zones and it was good.”
And his best 10 Ks of the season?
“Double-digit strikeouts, or not,” Gore said. “But mine is good so far. If I get ahead of people, I can — I can beat people.”
Out-out left the left-hander with a 3.00 ERA, 3.53 FIP, 16 walks (5.33 BB/9), 35 Ks (11.67 K/9), and 27 IP against the .200/.315/.284 line. rice field. Start the season.
After the Cubs scored two runs on Gore in the opening frame of last night’s game, his ERA came to 3.54, Cody Bellinger singled with two outs, stole second, and Seiya Suzuki’s RBI single gave him a 1-1. After entering with 0, Suzuki took it. He moved to third on an errant throw on a pick attempt and scored 2–0 on Trey Mancini’s RBI double.
Gore threw 11 pitches in 1-2-3 seconds on 32 pitches in the first, but after avoiding a one-out double and a two-out walk after three innings of 30, he reached 73 pitches. To. His 4th pitch on a quick 13 pitches left him with a total of 86.
He returned to the mound in the fifth inning, giving up Nico Herner’s leadoff single and Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer to left field (straight up, middle middle, 95 MPH, 1-0 fastball) the Cubs jumped to a 4-1 lead. A walk to Bellinger ended Gore’s outing with his 102nd pitch overall…
Mackenzie Gore quotes: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 Ks, 1 HR, 102 P, 66 S, 7/0 GO/FO.
Gore closed out the night with 11 swing strikes, throwing six with a fastball 61% of the time. He called his 12th inning and scored his strikes, seven in which he was a 4-seamer, and the Cubs hitter ultimately fouled his 28th. .
“There were a lot of foul balls,” Martinez said of Gore’s out overall.
“They calculated well and didn’t chase,” he added. When they fought back he tried to make a good 3-2 pitch and he walked the man.
And sending Gore back in the fifth on 86 pitches? continued Martinez.
“They stayed at bat and took off a few foul balls, but he threw some balls well. He stole two outs in the first inning, and Bellinger hit a base to keep things going.” I mean, 3-2 count, so he fought. The important thing for him is to keep sending strikes.”
Back page – Dom Smith joins chat:
While he didn’t get off to the start he or the Nationals had hoped for, Dominic Smith fit in well and made a positive impact in his first few months in Washington, DC. The 27-year-old slugger, who hit a double and a home run in 106 at-bats in 94 for 22 (.232/.311/.274), enters a four-game set against the Chicago Cubs this week. The nation’s capital fits his new team.
“He was great,” Martinez said. “He really has.”
“He came as advertised. A great teammate. No one appreciates his defense, but he’s been a phenomenal defensive force at first base. And so early in the season.” I know one thing, we’re going to get his swing right, I know he can hit.
“I am proud of the way he has run his business.
Smith hit his first home run of the season over the weekend. Pittsburgh PiratesRelief Johann Ramirez was 401 feet from plate to center at a speed of 101.1 mph, bringing the veteran to the plate in Davey Martinez and Co.’s first year with the team after signing with the Nationals. It was another positive step for trying. This winter, he signed a one-year, $2 million free agency deal.
“Of course,” Martinez said Saturday night after Smith hit a home run in the club’s only run in a 16-1 loss to the Bucks.
“And the fact that he hit straight into center field, we tell him, ‘Stay behind the baseball and stay in center field,’ is a beautiful thing. He’s out there, he’s grinding, things aren’t going the way he wanted them to, and he’s grinding and he’s trying to figure things out It was great to see a little bit of it here.
Last night, Smith went 2-for-2 in the at-bat after hitting Cubs starter Drew Smiley’s second double of 2023 on a 2-1 curveball to center field, then trailing 3-for-3 after hitting a two-out single. It was 3. 7 home halves.
Zone Contact %:
In last night’s game, Kaibert Ruiz spent about 46 percent of his at-bats this season seeing pitches in the zone, according to Baseball Savant data. He makes contact with 95.1% of those pitches in the zones he serves.
His 95.1% zone contact percentage is the best of any hitter for the Nationals, as evidenced by the graph Washington Post writer Andrew Golden sent on Twitter yesterday. His manager was asked if Lewis should be more discerning about which pitches he swings in the zone when he makes contact as often as he does.
Let’s take a look at the Nationals’ pursuit rate (far right column) through the first month of the season. His current league average is 28.1%. The Nationals as a team are 29%. Dave Martinez said he ideally wants his men to be no more than 30% of him. pic.twitter.com/bAicj9g1Mq
— Andrew Golden (@andrewcgolden) May 1, 2023
“I want them to be aggressive in the zone,” said the sixth-year skipper. “That was the biggest thing and we’re pushing him there…he’s hitting two or three pitches hard in one game. That’s great. Now his pitch awareness is key.” Which balls he can hit, which balls he can hit hard Situation hit What is he trying to achieve in that situation But he’s doing really well — I mean, he’s doing really well. he is doing well He’s trying to stay in the middle of the field, but he knows what pitch he wants to hit and in the zone he lets it go.
“He’s not the kind of guy to go and walk that far,” Martinez added, but after taking one in the series finale against the Pirates on Sunday, Lewis had more walks than K in the season. And he’s had just two strikeouts in his last 17 games and 75 at-bats, with a .360 OBP (and a .294 AVG) during that time.
“He’s a bat swinger,” the manager continued. “The good thing is that he hasn’t pushed a lot of balls out of the weak contact zone.
“Ball in the zone, he’s starting to hit the ball. His exit velocity has been pretty good over the last few weeks and that’s what we want to see.”