Washington Nationals news & notes: Jackson Rutledge returns; Nats beat Brewers, 5-2 in series opener…

Notes and quotes on the Nationals’ win and Jackson Rutledge’s return to the majors…

RUTLEDGE NEXT IN LINE:

Davey Martinez put off making an announcement on the starter for the series opener with the Milwaukee Brewers until after the series finale with the New York Mets in Citi Field, but told reporters after the third consecutive loss in the Mets’ home it was going to be their 25-year-old, 2019 1st Round pick Jackson Rutledge getting the nod in American Family Field.

“Rutledge is going to start, so we have to make a decision on who we’re going to send out,” Martinez explained.

“Got to wait for [Rutledge] to get down here and then we’ll make a decision tomorrow.”

In the end, Joan Adon, called up to give the Nationals length out of the bullpen, was sent to Triple-A Rochester to make room on the roster.

Why was Rutledge the choice to get this opportunity, in what would be his sixth appearance and fifth start in the majors?

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

“He’s the next guy,” the manager said. “So, we’ll get him up here, we’ll get him ready, prep him, and hopefully he gives us some innings. We need some innings.”

Rutledge, who’s made 16 starts at Triple-A Rochester this season (6.66 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 5.02 BB/9, 8.92 K/9 in 71 ²⁄₃ innings), made one relief appearance at the big league level earlier this season, in the second game of a doubleheader with Chicago’s White Sox in mid-May.

A few days later, GM and President of Baseball Ops Mike Rizzo talked with 106.7 the FAN in D.C.’s The Sports Junkies about the 6’8’’ starter’s development since he was picked, No. 17 overall in the ‘19 Draft.

“He’s inconsistent,” Rizzo acknowledged, “but shows flashes of being a quality major league starter. Just have to work on him. He’s a very lanky right-handed pitcher. Often times those long arm, long legs pitchers take a little bit longer to develop, to kind of grow into their bodies. He’s 6’[8]’’. Randy Johnson and those long-limbed guys took a little bit longer to develop because their bodies have to get in-sync and that type of thing. But we’ve got high expectations and high hopes for him that he’ll be a rotation starter for us in the big leagues in the near future.

“He’s a guy we could reach for right now and start in the big leagues if need be.

“But he’s working on mechanics and locating his four pitches in the minors, and shows flashes of the guy we want [him] to be up here in the big leagues, but then he’s inconsistent and that needs to improve. But high expectations for him. He’s a big strong guy who throws 96-97 MPH with two good secondary pitches, so I like the upside and the future for him.”

Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images

Talking before the series opener with the Brewers, Martinez said he had the same advice for Rutledge he and the organization have for all their pitchers.

“He’s just got to get ahead of hitters, when he does that, limit the walks,” he explained.

“The walks hurt him, so he’s just got to get ahead of hitters and use his both his four-seam, and his two-seam, and his slider. But, just really focus on just getting ahead.”

“As we talked about Mitchell Parker and DJ [Herz] and how well they worked on getting the ball in the zone,” he added, “not being afraid of throwing the ball over the plate, and they’ve both been pretty successful here so far, so we want him to do the same thing. It’s kind of what we teach here, you’ve got to limit the damage, you can’t walk guys, that’s when you get yourself in trouble, but you have to attack the strike zone.”

Rutledge took the mound in Milwaukee and retired the Brewers in order in a 15-pitch first, and stranded a one-out single in a 13-pitch second, then a 13-pitch, 1-2-3 third left him at just 41 pitches total, with 9 of 10 retired in three scoreless.

Given a 3-0 lead to work with in the top of the fourth, however, Rutledge issued a leadoff walk in the Brewers’ fourth, putting William Contreras on, and one out later Willy Adames’ RBI double got the home team on the board, 3-1, and 3-2 on an RBI double by Sal Frelick.

His 26-pitch fourth pushed him up to 67 total, and he picked up back-to-back Ks, one of them looking, then the next swinging, but issued a two-out walk, and then shortstop CJ Abrams booted a ground ball on what could have been out No. 3 of the fifth for the Nats’ starter, who was instead lift 22 pitches into the inning at 89 pitches overall.

Robert Garcia came on and issued another walk before he got out No. 3, and he came back out in the sixth with a scoreless frame, before handing it off to Derek Law in the home-half of the seventh, Hunter Harvey in the eighth, and Kyle Finnegan in the ninth as the Nationals locked down a 5-2 win.

Jesse Winker drove in the first of those five runs, in the first inning, Keibert Ruiz (RBI single) and Trey Lipscomb (RBI double) drove in runs in the fourth, before Winker homered in the top of the fifth, before Lane Thomas drove in a run in the seventh (RBI single).

“It was a good day offensively,” Martinez said after the win, in which his hitters scored five on 12 hits, going 6 for 11 with runners in scoring position and five left on base.

“We still left a couple runners on base, but I’m proud of the guys and the way they bounced back today.”

Rutledge had a relatively good day as well.

“He was around the zone. He was around the zone. He threw the ball — when he fell behind he came back with a nice strike,” Martinez said, “… but he was around the zone. When your misses are close, you tend to get more swings … but when you’re erratic, all over the place, hitters tend to just kind of relax a little bit, and they’ll take their walks. And these guys will take their walks. But he was around the plate all night.”

“I was just relaxed and trusting the game plan,” Rutledge said, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman. “I haven’t pitched very well at Triple-A, to be honest. So getting the call here, just answered prayers for the opportunity, and just said I’m going to go out and have fun and enjoy it. Just do what I know I can do. I fell like I pitched really relaxed and loose, and was having a good time.”

Rutledge struck out six, got 10 swinging strikes, and piled up 21 called strikes, 14 of them on his sinker.

When he gave up the runs in the fourth, Martinez said, he lost his command for a stretch.

“He fell behind a little bit, and had hitters’ counts, but he got to settle down a little bit, got a big out for us, we sent him back out there, and he did well,” Martinez said.

In an ideal outcome, Abrams fields the two-out grounder, and Rutledge gets through five, but it didn’t work out, though Garcia stranded the runner he inherited (and his own walk).

“I thought at that particular moment, once I saw the ground ball I thought he was coming out of the game, it didn’t happen, but I wanted Garcia on Yelich.”

“[Rutledge] did well in the fifth inning, but he pitched really well.”