Here’s a snippet from 23-year-old left-hander DJ Hurts’ efficient game against the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park, throwing 84 pitches, allowing no runs in six innings, striking out 13 and walking no batters.
From the Nationals post-game notes:
- His 13 strikeouts were the most by a Nationals pitcher this season. Max Scherzer On May 8, 2021, at New York (AL), he struck out 14 batters.
- It’s also the second-most by a rookie pitcher this season in MLB and the most by a left-handed rookie pitcher (New York AL). Luis Gil – 14).
- Hurts’ strikeout total is the second-most by a rookie pitcher in Nationals history. Stephen Strasburg’s On June 8, 2010, he was ranked 14th in a game against Pittsburgh.
- Per @OptaSTATS, Hurts struck out 13 of the 19 batters he faced today (68.4%), second-best strikeout rate among modern MLB rookie pitchers (facing 15 or more batters) and Kerry Wood On May 6, 1998, he recorded a 69.0% strikeout rate in a 20-strikeout game.
MacKenzie Gore struck out 10 of 28 batters he faced over seven innings (allowing five hits, one walk and one run), and the next day, Hurts dominated the same Marlins, retiring the first 12 batters he faced, striking out eight of 12 and adding two more in the fifth, when he allowed a leadoff hit, struck out consecutive batters and grounded out to third base to hold the fifth scoreless inning. Hurts finished with a 1-2-3 shutout win on 17 pitches over six innings, striking out three consecutive batters in his final inning on the mound.
“He got too emotional in the sixth inning after he got the third out,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after the Nationals’ 4-0 win. “When a pitcher does that, you think it’s all over, but he did a really good job. Like I said, he got ahead of the hitters today, which is great. That’s important and it’s actually part of his development. Learning how to throw strikes, how to throw strikes consistently, has allowed him to get up to bat, so he struck out a lot.”
Hurts threw 57 of his 84 pitches for strikes, striking out 21 batters (13 on a four-seam fastball, six on a changeup, one each on a cutter and a slider) and also drew 11 strikes (four on fastballs and seven on a changeup).
“I think he only got behind twice, but he was attacking the strike zone, and like we’ve talked about the last few days, it’s about getting ahead with your fastball,” Martinez added.
“He was really good. Really good. He got 18 outs and pitched really well.”
Martinez said his fastball was the key in the game and his changeup definitely helped.
“I know my changeup is really good. [but] It was fastball control,” he explained.
“It was great to put himself in a good situation to use his changeup and lead off like he did.”
“It still doesn’t seem real,” Hertz told reporters. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman After his third major league start.
“I’m really fortunate. It was probably the best pitch I’ve ever made, and to be able to do it at this level, it feels great.”
Hurts said he was more pleased with the zero walks than the number of strikeouts.
“To be honest with you, I’m more happy that I didn’t walk any batters than I am that I struck out any batters. If I don’t walk any batters, I’ll strike them out. That’s what I’ve always done.”
“He outscored all of the hitters,” Hurts said. “You can tell just how efficient he is. To strike out all of those batters in six innings is impressive. Really impressive. So we’re going to continue to drill all of our pitchers on the importance of throwing strikes and hitting before the hitter. I think that’s what makes this team really good.”
Acquired from the Cubs at the 2023 trade deadline for Jeimer Candelario, the left-hander has only started three games in his major league career, but does he know what he’s accomplished so far, or is he just getting carried away by the emotions of having a successful major league career?
“I hope he figures out what he can do on a consistent basis,” Martinez said.
“But right now, I think he’s excited to get through today’s game. He’s with the guys, and I’ve said the same thing before about all of these guys…” [Herz has] “He has a chance to get really good, and we’re going to continue to teach him what he needs to do to be effective. I think he can do what he did today over and over again.”
Who has struck out the most since Scherzer was with the Nationals?
“It was great,” Martinez said. “I’m very happy with the 18 outs he got. That’s one of the reasons. He threw 84 pitches. We could have put him back on the mound, but I thought he did a great job.”
Given how underwhelming he was and the relatively small number of innings he threw, was the decision made to end it there?
“After I got him out, he looked at me and said, ‘Uh, thank you,’ and I said, ‘No, it’s fine, well done,'” Martinez said.
“I got that last strikeout,” Hurts said, “and I kind of had a feeling that this was it, so I let my emotions out a little bit. It was awesome.”