Washington Nationals news & notes: Trevor Williams solid again; Nats beat Cubs 4-1 in D.C.

Front Page – Williams vs Cubbies:

5 starts and up to 26 ¹⁄₃ 30-year-old starter Trevor Williams was pitched before last night in Washington’s first full-year pitching after signing a two-year, $13M free agent contract with DC this winter. , and for .275/.313/.461 lines,

Ahead of his fifth start in a Nationals uniform, manager Davey Martinez spoke about why he likes Williams, signing him to a two-year deal this winter.

“I love his competitiveness. I love the way he attacks the strike zone,” Martinez explained.

“Facing him, the guy competes and the guy is a gamer. That’s what I really love.”

And what does he mean when he says pitchers “compete”?

“He won’t give in. He won’t give in,” said the sixth-year manager.

“He knows what he needs to do to get a hitter out, and even when he’s rattled in high-leverage situations, he stays focused and gives good innings. This one.” So far so good.

“He’s really fought so far with a few starts. He keeps every game and that’s great.”

Williams tossed a scoreless 3 on 49 pitches (31 strikes), making 2 of 4 pitches. chicago cubs, and he took a 1–0 lead four times thanks to a two-out RBI single by Luis Garcia, who drove CJ Abrams from third after a leadoff single, sack bunt, and groundout moved Abrams around the bases. took the mound on .

Williams retired the side in order in the frame of 18 pitches, making 67 overall after the fourth inning, and the starter struck out a leadoff single at third base in the top of the 10 pitches in the fifth inning for a 77 total.

Martinez walked to the mound after Williams scored 1-of-6 on the 83rd pitch, but remained right-handed until he walked Ian Happ on the 87th pitch.

Carl Edwards, Jr. took over the mound.

Happ moved to third on Cody Bellinger’s right-field double, so the Nationals intentionally walked Seiya Suzuki to set up a potential double play, but Edwards swung Trey Mancini to the second out to get Eric out. Hosmer popped out and ended the match. Home to keep 1-0 in favor of his team.

Trevor Williams quote: 5.1 IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 4Ks, 87P, 55S, 6/3 GO/FO.

The Nationals won 4-1.

“It’s a big deal,” Martinez said after the win.

“Trevor gave us five strongs to keep the game going, but then the bullpen came in and slammed the door. It was a good day, a good day for everyone.”

Bullpen action:

Mason Thompson conceded the lead on the second pitch, and it was 1-1 in the seventh when Patrick Wisdom hit a 0-1 sinker to left-center for a 426-foot game-tying blast.

Dominic Smith singled off reliever Keegan Thompson and replaced Cubs starter Hayden Wesneski in the bottom of the seventh. Smith moved to second on Lane Thomas’ ground ball and CJ Abrams’ RBI single Abrams flipped a 95 mph 2-2 fastball and singled to right field on his third hit of the game (3-for-3, 2 RBI).

Victor Robles singled and Alex Cole doubled in the next two at-bats, with Cole driving on both Abrams and Robles to take a 4–1 lead.

Hunter Harvey avoided a leadoff single and a one-out walk to take the top of the scoreless eighth inning.

Kyle Finnegan scored for the ninth with a three-run lead and avoided a two-out hit to finish in a 4-1 Nationals final.

BACK PAGE – Learning on the job:

CJ Abrams, 22, has clearly continued to grow and learn on the job as the Nationals acquired him in a trade for Juan Soto. San Diego Padres Continuing a complete top-down reboot/reset of the organization last summer to help the shortstop try to grow and build on his already impressive skill set is manager Davey Martinez and his It depends on the staff.

Martinez was specifically asked about Abrams’ plate discipline at the skipper’s pregame press conference on Monday, and he said a little bit about infielder discipline at the plate, or more precisely, where Abrams gets into trouble. talked. Strike Zone.

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

“He loves chasing the ball,” Martinez explained. “We have to get him back in the zone.”

“Last year we talked a lot about what he does. When the ball is down, he hits it hard. Whatever it is, a perfect example of yesterday. put the barrel on the ball he hit a double yesterday and the ball was down we need him to look down and that’s what we’re going to get him to do And don’t track, don’t track early in the count.

“If you’re looking for a fastball, if they’re going to play a curveball, you don’t really have to chase it, but that’s what we’re trying to teach him right now.”

Martinez also discussed where second baseman Luis Garcia, also 22, is currently focusing.

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

“He’s really talking about trying to walk,” said the director. And as we told him, this is part of it. Strike He has to learn his zones and he has to learn which balls he can hit hard. He takes that to heart and works really hard at getting the ball in the zone and trying to swing on pitches he knows. You may be able to drive. But he is very good and his overall game is much better. ”

Martinez said he liked what he saw from Garcia at second base after flipping back and forth between second base and shortstop the last few seasons.

“He pays attention to detail,” added the sixth-year skipper. “He’s really focused on his defense and [coaches Gary DiSarcino], [Tim Bogar]Ricky [Gutierrez] Before the game, I’m trying to figure out where to play, where to move throughout the at-bat, etc.And also with Darnell [Coles] and 6 [Pat Roessler] Inside the cage, we work quite a bit on the strike zone. So he is doing well.

“I think all of our young kids are doing really well.”

Keibert Ruiz, 24, is a little ahead of the rest of the country’s capital’s young core in development, but he’s also growing on the plate behind him, so he still has a lot to learn. .

Lewis got off to a relatively slow start (189/.302/.324 lines in the first 10 games and .321/.367./411 lines in the last 14 games, entering 2nd of 3 games for the Cubs in DC this week.), but in the last few weeks he got it.

“Keebert swings the bat better than I’ve ever seen him,” his manager said. “He hits all the balls with the nose. and trying to make him understand that he’s hitting putts.” Really good swings on every ball. ”

Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images

Garcia has gone 9-34 in his last nine games (.265/.316/.382) and has 2 of 3 doubles, 3 walks and 3 38 PAs on the season. I record K. As a result of him putting his foot under him.

“It was all about getting his leg under him. That’s what we really wanted to work on. He’s flying a little bit more open against left-handed pitchers. We’re staying there.” But the big problem was his foot and he was trying to drive the ball into left center field and he worked on that and we got him where we felt he needed to be. He got a base hit on the right side yesterday, so the ball is on the inside. He’s doing really well.”

The biggest thing he’s noticed lately is that the core members of the roster keep learning, the elastic turnaround between teaching and applying the lessons they’ve been taught.

“What we’re getting really good at is that our young people are starting to understand more and more, so it doesn’t take as long as it usually takes to get to them. Look at it, explain it to them, work on it and they’ll get it right away,” Martinez said.

“And that’s great. So we’re seeing some progress in what we’re trying to tell them and how they’re doing business. I am doing it.

“[García will] Coming back, the first thing he said was, “I wasn’t using my legs. And they’re all doing it Keibert We’ve talked a lot with CJ about chasing, swinging with strikes, the ball I have to raise it to the zone.” So there is recognition. And now we need to improve consistency. Once these guys are consistent, they will start to see results. Now Lewis is looking at the results. Keibert is looking at the results. [Victor] Robles told him about staying on top of baseball.

Abrams went 3-for-3 last night and had two runs in addition to an RBI.

“He stayed at the top of baseball,” Martinez said after a three-hit game for shortstop. I will not chase you.

“He chased a lot less today. But he was able to get the ball into the zone and hit the ball hard.”

How can Abrams consistently do what he did Tuesday night?

“He has to keep laying off curveballs,” Martinez said. He did it really well today. I said, ‘Hey, sometimes you have to take two strikes to reduce the swing and get the ball in play and he did it. And he used the whole field. , stayed behind the fastball, hit it into left field, and went past third base. I thought it was great.”