“They had a really good year in the minor leagues,” manager Davey Martinez said of pitchers like Jackson Rutledge, the Washington Nationals’ 2019 first-round pick.Or are you really making money?) After performing well in the minors, he had a chance to pitch in the majors later this season, but then the 24-year-old was called up to make his MLB debut and started the final four games, including two in the sixth. Ta. He defended the National League East title against Atlanta.
“They’ve had a chance to get on the field here for the last month, and we’ll evaluate them every time they start with the ball,” Martinez explained.
In the end, the Nats got through most of the season with five or six starters (Mackenzie Gore, Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin, Trevor Williams — Chad Kuhl played in 10 games before rookie Jake Irvin was called up to start in early May and was stuck.), and the club ended up using a total of eight that year, [Joan] Adon and Rutledge in the final weeks of the 2023 campaign.
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“As I said before, it’s unusual to go a year with only seven starting pitchers,” Martinez said, noting that league officials have been asking managers how their teams are doing.
“We’re going to need these two in the future, both of them.” [Joan] Adon, Rutledge, and probably many more. But they are also a big part of our future. ”
Having the opportunity to make back-to-back starts against the Braves in the final two games gives Rutledge a chance to test himself against the best offense in the majors this year and prove he can compete at the major league level. .
“They’re a very good batting lineup in terms of adjustment,” Rutledge said after pitching five innings, giving up three hits and one run in the first of two starts. What are they thinking, what am I thinking, mixing up pitches well, two-seam and four-seam things throughout the game based on what they were seeing and what I was seeing? I wonder if I can manipulate it quite a bit about having 5 balls to switch and it’s fun. ”
Having success at the start meant a lot to Rutledge.
“It just tells me I belong here. I can do it against one of the best batting lineups in baseball. I can be successful. It gives you the confidence to move forward.”
He did not perform well in the second of his two starts against the Braves, giving up five hits and five runs in five innings on the road at Atlanta’s Turist Park.
His four starts gave the Nationals and coach Rutledge an idea of what he could do at this level of the game.
“When he throws strikes, he can compete. That’s the biggest thing,” Martinez said.
“In fact, that’s what he said to me when I took him out of the game. ‘You just have to have faith and throw the ball to the plate,'” he said. And I said, “Hey, if you can do that, you can pitch here and help us for a long time.” Yours is good, but you need to attack the strike zone. It was impressive to see him get a big out in the final inning and end the game. So we had to build from there. ”
“Last year against the Delmarva Shorebirds, we had a hard time getting out of the third inning,” Rutledge told reporters. Quoted by Mark Zuckerman of MASNabout the final month’s chances.
“And now I’m pitching in the fifth inning of an away game.” atlanta braves. That’s a big difference.
“Of course, I didn’t want to give up five runs today. But I know that in the future I can pitch at this level. It’s important to have confidence that I’m in a good position going forward.” .”
