Washington Nationals news & notes: DJ Herz makes MLB debut in Nats’ 6-3 loss to Mets + Trevor Williams to IL…

DC DJs:

last Friday, Nationals player development account X/Twitter heavily promoted DJ Hurts, the 23-year-old left-hander Chicago (NL) acquired in the trade that sent Jeimer Candelario last summer. Cubs At the trade deadline, Hurts noted that in his final three games with Triple-A Rochester, he was 3-0 with a 1.76 ERA, 23 strikeouts and five walks in 15 innings. ¹⁄₃ He pitched 100 innings and held opposing batters to a batting average of .151.

Hertz is playing the second of three games. Mets Last night in Washington, D.C., after the team placed promising starting pitcher Trevor Williams on the disabled list with a right flexor strain, the team’s communications department highlighted in a press release that the left-handed pitcher has a career record in 2024 (3-2) and “has started nine games for the Red Wings this season with a 3.75 ERA, 42 strikeouts and an opponents batting average of .177.”

“Hurtz leads all of the minor leagues with an opponents’ batting average of .176 and is third with 13.09 strikeouts per 9.0 innings since the start of the 2021 season (min. 250.0 innings). In five minor league seasons, Hurts has posted a 13-16 record with a 3.65 ERA and struck out 455 batters in 317.2 innings while holding opponents to a .178 batting average.”

“We’re going to give him an opportunity to go in and start,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters before last night’s game, “so the message to him is just to stay on your feet.”

“I think it’ll be a little nerve-wracking, but I think it’ll be okay.”

Martinez watched Hertz closely this spring and was pleased with what he saw.

“He’s got good stuff. He’s got good stuff. The thing is, we told him, ‘Just attack the strike zone. Don’t be afraid to attack the strike zone.’ We hope he goes out there and just competes.”

“His last three games have been really good,” Martinez added. “We’ve been watching that and the difference is the strikes, right? Attacking the strike zone, getting a lead, using a changeup or a curveball when necessary, but for the most part attacking the strike zone with his fastball and he’s done a really good job.”

Hurts primarily threw fastballs in his major league debut, throwing 57% of his pitches with six whiffs and 10 strikeouts, averaging 93.7 mph and topping out at 95.6 mph. He threw 75 pitches over four innings, mixing in 25% changeups, 16% cutters and 1% sliders, and was off to a decent start, allowing seven hits, two walks and four earned runs.

He got out of a pinch in the first inning by getting the leadoff batter to double, getting the seventh batter out after a double, then striking out J.D. Martinez, but in the fourth inning, he walked the leadoff batter and then, one out later, Harrison Bader hit a two-run homer, which Bader hit into the left-center field on a 1-2 cutter left by Hertz in the zone, sending it 390 feet to put New York up 2-0.

Back-to-back hits in his first two at-bats in the fifth inning ended Hurts’ time on the mound, and both remaining runners scored, making it 4-0, as the Nationals lost, 6-3.

“He was a little nervous,” Martinez said after the loss. “He was sweating like crazy on the court.”

“But I was able to stay calm and throw strikes when it mattered and I felt really good.”

Hurts controlled his emotions and composed himself well after giving up a leadoff hit in his first major league game.

“The first innings, my adrenaline was high, but I settled down and started throwing strikes. [Pete] “Alonso seemed to calm down a little bit,” Martinez said, “and he stepped up to bat.”

“He wasn’t wild, it was like everything was around him. [of the strike zone],It was good.”

“I think I’ve definitely settled in,” Hertz says. Quote from MASN’s Mark Zuckerman After losing.

“After I got the first out, I just kept pitching from there. I did whatever I had to do to help them win.”

Watching Hertz’s MLB debut, what stood out to his manager?

Photo: Mitchell Leighton/Getty Images

“The way he handled the situation,” Martinez said, “not trying to get ahead of himself, getting to the next pitch, throwing strikes when he needed to. There were a couple of times where things could have gone wrong, but he was able to throw strikes well, so that was good.”

Martinez’s message after retiring as a starting pitcher?

“I told him, ‘Well done,’ he really did well, so let’s focus on the positives.”

Will he get another turn?

“Yeah,” Martinez said.

Williams VS NYM:

“He had a plan this winter to have a different routine,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after Trevor Williams’ 11th start of the 2024 season.circle, 5-0, 2.22 ERA, 2.78 FIP, .221 ERA/.272 on-base percentage/.299 slugging percentage, 16 walks, 2.54 walks, 47 strikeouts (7.46 strikeouts), 2 home runs (0.32 home runs) — down from 2.12 home runs/9 in 2023. In 2023, he allowed a NL-leading 34 home runs in 56 innings. ²⁄₃ IP).

“He did,” Martinez said of the changes Williams made.

“He worked on some different pitches, some different grips and he executed them. He was effective. So I give him a lot of credit for coming back as a veteran after all these years and making some changes. He’s great.”

Williams started a total of 30 games last year, posting a 5.55 ERA, 5.99 FIP, 53 walks (3.30 walks per nine innings), 111 strikeouts (6.92 strikeouts per nine innings) and 34 home runs (2.12 home runs per nine innings) in 144 1⁄3 innings pitched, slashing .300/.359/.533 in the first year of his two-year, $13 million contract with D.C.

“He’s been pitching great for us,” Martinez said.

“It’s been great. Like I said, he’s made some adjustments and it’s working.”

Unfortunately, Williams felt unwell during a bullpen session and after undergoing an MRI he was found to have a right flexor strain, which will keep him sidelined for the next two weeks.

Photo: Scott Tetch/Getty Images

“I think a lot of it was luck,” Martinez said after receiving her diagnosis.

“After his last bullpen session, he said he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to get some other tests done, which he did. He had an MRI and it just turned out to be a strain. So we’re going to give him a little bit more time.”

“There was no structural damage, which is good. So we had an MRI. He’ll be out for a while, but I think the best case scenario is it’s a muscle strain, a flexor strain. We’ll give him two weeks off, see how it goes and go from there.”

The Nationals’ rotation will miss Williams given how well he’s performed this year, but the Nationals captain expects him to return relatively soon.

“It’s unfortunate for our team because he was out there every five days and he was keeping us in games,” Martinez said, “and we were winning a lot of those games (9-2 in 11 starts),” “but we’re hopeful he’ll be back, hopefully soon.”

Abrams & Young:

C.J. Abrams hurt his shoulder while diving awkwardly for a bouncing ground ball Friday night in Cleveland.

Jacob Young was hit by a ball on his right hand during Saturday afternoon’s game.

Abrams missed three games with a shoulder injury.

Young was quickly removed from Saturday’s game after being hit by a pitch and striking out and has yet to return to the lineup.

Manager Davey Martinez acknowledged there were concerns the pair could miss multiple days during a press conference ahead of Monday’s series opener against New York in Washington, D.C.

Photo: Mitchell Leighton/Getty Images

“I always say that three days in a row without a game makes you a bit worried on both sides,” the coach explained, “because if the other side can’t play, you’re in a situation where you’re short on players. So if this continues, we’ll have to have a discussion.”

Both players tested themselves before Monday’s game.

“Jacob tried to hit today, but he’s still in pain so we don’t want to push him,” Martinez said.

“The same with CJ. We’re just hoping that these guys bounce back. CJ said he felt better today than he did yesterday, so he’s getting better. So we thought we’d just give him one more day and then when we need him, he’ll be available.”

When asked what he’d like to see from Abrams before his return, Martinez said he wants to see the shortstop swing without any issues.

“The whole swing. He said it bothers him a little bit when he swings, so if we do that again, he’ll be back.”

The Nationals were missing a lot of players without their two speedsters in the lineup, but they were trying to make up for their absence.

“Other guys are stepping up and playing well,” Martinez said. “We’ve got to do other things. It would be nice to hit a couple of home runs, but these guys are a big part of our success offensively because when they get on base, they wreak havoc. But the lane [Thomas] Lewis is playing well [García, Jr.] You’re playing well, [Eddie] Rosario runs a little further [Jesse] The blinker comes on and we drive a little.

Photo: Scott Tetch/Getty Images

“Joey [Gallo] “We were on a run yesterday so we’re going to push the envelope a little bit, but our guys have to be ready to go. We’re going to play a little differently than people think, but we’re going to play aggressive and we’re going to continue to play aggressive. I can’t wait to get our guys back in the lineup.”

Before the game, Martinez said he was hopeful Abrams would be available if needed on Monday, but he didn’t use the infielder when he had the opportunity, and after the game he said both Abrams and Young were unavailable.

Was he considering Abrams as a pinch hitter when the Nationals rallied in the ninth?

“Yeah, we wanted to get away from him,” Martinez said.

What about Young? “Yeah, same thing.”

Martinez was asked again if he thought any action (or double action) would have to be taken if both players were unable to play.

“Not yet,” he said late Monday night.

“Hopefully they’ll be in better shape tomorrow.”

Both Abrams and Young returned to the lineup on Tuesday.

“They were good. I saw them both batting in the cage and they both swung the bat really well. [throw] A little bit. The issue is he had the ball in his hands, but he threw it and he said he felt good, so they’re both going to get a chance to play today and hopefully they can get through it. But they both swung the bat really well in the cage.”

Abrams had one hit and one walk in four at-bats, and Young had three hits and one walk and two RBIs in three at-bats, but the team lost.