Washington Nationals news & notes: MacKenzie Gore & Luis García return; Nationals drop opener to Dodgers…

Mackenzie Gore returns to rotation:

Mackenzie Gore missed his spot in the rotation on the bereavement list, but the 24-year-old left-hander returned to the mound last night at Nationals Park, 10 days after his last appearance, and gave up 106 pitches in five innings. He started with six hits, two walks, and a solo home run, scoring one run. Gore wouldn’t have made it back to the fifth inning in that start if he hadn’t retired his team in order with a nine-pitch fourth inning.

“That inning saved us. He threw nine pitches, otherwise we wouldn’t have sent him back in the fifth…But he stays calm and pitches through five innings. We did a good job of that,” manager Davey Martinez said after the game.

Martinez, who will be pitching on nine days of rest, said before last night’s start that he wanted to see Gore try to build on the form he had in his last start.

The Nationals captain said he would like to see Gore throw strikes and get ahead of batters in the series opener against Los Angeles. dodgers In Washington, D.C., his return to the mound was closely watched by the club’s higher-ups, and he missed the 2022 season with an elbow problem and finished the 2023 season limited to 87 total innings between the minor leagues and the major leagues.he was 132 years old ¹⁄₃ IP of the year in which last night’s game begins.

“We’re going to keep a close eye on him,” Martinez told reporters.

“It was unfortunate that he had to miss out on starting,” the manager continued. I wanted to do that, but the fact that he was in that final episode, that final episode meant so much, it was a big moment for us and for him, and he did a really good job. So I told him, “I want you” to build off of that inning.

“Take the positives out of it and understand that when you’re in the strike zone, you can let go and get big outs.”

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After throwing 38 of 79 pitches for strikes in the first three innings, Gore threw 21 of his final 29 pitches for strikes in that start.

“So let’s understand today we’re going to attack the strike zone and see what happens. But yours is good,” Martinez said.

Gore returned to the rotation last night and threw 52 of his 89 pitches for strikes, allowing six hits in four innings, including three home runs, two walks, and four earned runs in an 8-5 loss. To Los Angeles (after a long, long rain delay).

Luis Garcia returns to the majors:

After explaining why the club demoted Luis Garcia to Triple-A in early August, the Nationals GM Mike Rizzo told 106.7 The Fan on Sports Junkies in D.C. Last Wednesday, the 23-year-old infielder said he was likely to return to the majors soon, spending more than a month with Washington’s top minor league affiliate, developing a consistent approach at the plate and preparing for each game. It’s here.

“He’s only 23 years old and has been able to get a lot of at-bats at the major league level and has had some success,” Rizzo said. And how to attack him being a major leaguer. “

“We’re going to see him play every day in the big leagues as our second baseman in the near future, because we think he’s a big part of the future of this world,” Rizzo predicted.

Garcia was recalled ahead of last night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the nation’s capital.

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“He went out there and did everything we asked him to do,” coach Davey Martinez said of the job Garcia did before getting his latest opportunity.

“Looks great. He’s playing a lot better, playing hard, coming to the ballpark early, getting all his work done. Really trying to hone in on just one swing.”

“The biggest thing for him was he was changing every day. His stance at the plate, his hand position changed. So we’re still working with him to find one particular swing and work on it. , we’re going to see if we can move him forward consistently.

“But I’m proud of him. He went out there and did everything we asked him to do.”

Garcia Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASN He told reporters before the game that while being demoted to Triple-A was clearly not ideal, he understood the message the club was sending with this move.

“I can’t say that at first I was not very happy with the decision,” Garcia said through interpreter Octavio Martinez. “More to the point, I don’t think I understood it. But on the way to Scranton…I just started thinking about it a little bit and I realized that part of the game is to help yourself so that you can improve in certain aspects of your game.” And I saw it that way. And I went there to work there, and it’s a learning experience. I didn’t feel like I had done it. But I’m going to come back here and do what I can to do well.”

His manager was happy to see Garcia embrace his time in Triple-A as an opportunity.

“It means a lot to me,” Martinez explained. “I have full confidence in Lewis and as I always say, he’s still a big part of our future, but he understands that we need him to do the right thing every day. He needs to play good defense, even when he’s not feeling good hitting. He needs to be engaged. He needs to play second base every day the way we want him to play. be.

“But I think he understands that. He’s worked hard to get better, and hopefully that effort pays off here.”

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Martinez said in early August that firing Garcia would allow him to work on developing a more consistent approach “without worrying about putting up numbers.”

Now that he’s back, the manager said last night he wants to make sure Garcia doesn’t step up to the plate trying to make things happen or dwell on his previous at-bat.

“The most important thing is where your feet are. I told him that,” Martinez said.

“I said, ‘You can’t control your last at-bat. You control what you do in this moment. So understand that and learn from your mistakes. Move forward and get better.”

Also:

“Stephen Strasberg is and always will be an important part of our world. Washington Nationals franchise. We support every decision he makes and ensure he receives what he deserves.

“It is unfortunate that private discussions have become public through anonymous sources attempting to negotiate through the media. We are following the process set out in our collective bargaining agreement, but behind the scenes, behind the scenes, private discussions have become public. Preparations had begun. However, such events were never confirmed by the team or publicly promoted. It is unfortunate that external leaks by the press misrepresent the nature of these events. is.

“Out of respect for everyone involved, it is our preference that ongoing conversations remain private. Until then, we look forward to meeting Stephen when he reports to spring training.”

Sincerely,

Washington Nationals Managing Principal Owner Mark D. Lerner