Irving vs. Brewers:
New York Mets Jake Irvin was in Washington again against the Nationals’ NL East rivals, this time at Citi Field, pitching six innings and allowing just nine hits and six runs.
“He wasn’t as sharp as he was,” manager Davey Martinez said after Irvin made his second straight start against the Mets.
“His breaking ball wasn’t as sharp. He was behind a couple of batters and made some mistakes in places. But overall, he gave us the innings we needed and today was just one of those days.”
Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images
Irvin’s ERA rose to 3.13 from 2.80 this year, his FIP rose to 3.62 from 3.38, and he finished with a .220/.271/.373 ERA in 112 innings, up from a .212/.263/.360 ERA prior to this game.
“The biggest thing is I got ahead of the other guys last week, and I did a really good job of that,” Irvin said. Quote from MASN’s Bobby Blanco When asked about facing the Mets for the second time.
“And this week I got behind my opponents, I got into bad counts and I gave them opportunities to hit.”
Martinez said Ervin will be able to bounce back from a tough start after looking good overall in the first half of the game.
“He’s a workhorse for us,” he said, “so he’ll be back for one more game, one more start before the break. He’ll be focused and he’ll get back on the court and compete.”
But Irvin struggled again in the final minutes of what was called the first half.
Irvin threw 86 pitches, 54 strikes, and gave up 9 hits, 3 walks, and 7 runs (6 earned) in 4 innings. He gave up consecutive doubles and a run with two outs in the first inning, and three runs in the third and fourth innings, resulting in a 9-3 loss at the end of the first half, and his pitching came to an early end.
Irvin finished the schedule before the All-Star break with a 3.49 ERA, 3.85 FIP, 92.25 BB/92.68 K/1 in 116 innings.
“First of all, he wasn’t very efficient today, and second of all, he got in position,” Martinez said when asked what went wrong with Irving this time around.
“Usually what happens is he pulls everything back and gets open too early, so we’re going to get him back on track for the second half.”
“But he pitched really well in the first half of the season. I’m really proud of him. He pitched a lot of games, a lot of innings, so we want to make sure he’s ready to play again when he comes back.”
Going into the break, was Irvin wondering if he’d played well in the first half or started poorly?
“I think I’m doing a little bit of both,” the starting pitcher said.
“Overall, it was a good first half, but these last two games are a reminder that we still have work to do and we’re going to get better and move forward.”
2024 MLB Draft:
“The preparation for the draft is huge, it’s all-encompassing, it’s crazy,” the Nationals’ general manager and president of baseball operations said. Mike Rizzo told 106.7 FAN’s Sports Junkies. Last Wednesday.
“We are now in the second week of preparation. Our amateur scouts have been working on this for nearly four months and things are going well. We are currently putting together a committee and will pull the trigger on Sunday to acquire another great player who will be part of the core of our major league team.”
“Then during the draft we’ll be preparing for the trade deadline,” Rizzo added.
“These are busy weeks. These are important weeks. We’re going to immerse ourselves in that and do nothing else.”
The Nationals were focused on the 10th and 44th picks this weekend, but on Saturday night they traded with the Royals, sending right-hander Hunter Harvey to Kansas City for third baseman Cayden Wallace.He is ranked No. 2 in the Royals’ system by MLB Pipeline.), and Competitive Balanced Draft Picks (of 39th overall pick + $2.395 million in pool money The Athletic’s Keith Law said: In the final mock draft).
Rizzo and company in the Nationals front office were looking to draft him with the 10th overall pick. Wake Forest 21-year-old shortstop Seaver King “batted .308 with 14 doubles, 3 triples, 16 home runs and 64 RBIs.”[s]With the Demon Deacons, he recorded 25 walks, 11 stolen bases and 59 runs in 60 games.
king, “He recorded a .377 on-base percentage and a .577 slugging percentage while recording a hit in 48 games, including 24 games with multiple hits. He had 21 games with multiple RBIs, including eight games with three or more RBIs. He recorded a hit in 31 consecutive games during the 2024 season (April 2-May 25), including an 11-game hitting streak (April 6-23) and a 16-game hitting streak (April 27-May 24) during that period.”
“I feel like I’m the most raw player in the draft and the one with the most potential. I take pride in that and I want to work hard and become the best I can be.” – Seaver King, Nationals’ 2024 first-round pick (10th overall) https://t.co/uqrvbxIVvX
— Federal Baseball (@federalbaseball) July 15, 2024
The decision surprised at least one person.
“They weren’t really on the shortlist, and then my agent called me about 10 minutes before the draft and said, ‘Here’s the deal as of now. You’re probably going to go to the Nationals, but don’t get too hung up on it,'” King told reporters after the selection.
King spent two years at Division II Wingate University (North Carolina) before transferring to Wake Forest University, “which was the only offer I had coming out of high school,” he explained. Going from Division II baseball to then Division I and being the 10th overall draft pick is quite a journey.
“If you asked me three years ago if I would have been drafted, I probably wouldn’t have been,” King explained. “To be a top-10 pick and be with an organization that values youth development as much as they do, it’s a dream come true. I think it’s just surreal that it wasn’t available any other way. I’m glad I didn’t know it was going to happen, because it was better that way. So I’m very grateful for the opportunity and that the Nationals took a risk on me and it’s something I’ll never regret.”
![Nike's 2024 MLB Draft](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Gsxd-uAI8o_mEhPTUqoTLXlOM8c=/0x0:4876x3250/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4876x3250):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25531067/2162057965.jpg)
Photo: Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
“If you would have told me yesterday that I would be in the top 10, I wouldn’t have believed it. Now it’s a reality,” he added.
Watching him make the jump from Wingate to Wake Forest convinced Nationals scouts he had the right fit to make the transition to professional baseball.
“Speaking of what Seaver’s done,” senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek said, “… in terms of making all these leaps, that’s one of the standards we’re always looking for, certainly not just with the first pick, but with the top few picks.”
“I feel like I’m the most raw player in the draft and the one with the most potential,” King told reporters last night. “I take pride in that and I want to work hard and be the best player I can be.”
This includes:
When asked for their reaction to GM Mike Rizzo adding the 39th overall pick in the Hunter Harvey trade with the Royals, vice president of amateur scouting Danny Haas (center), senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek (right) and assistant director of amateur scouting and national crosschecker Reid Dunn (left) said: pic.twitter.com/U5ARYNzZsY
— Federal Baseball (@federalbaseball) July 15, 2024