Notes and quotes from Monday’s game in West Palm Beach, FL…
Patrick Corbin left a cutter up to Marlins’ outfielder Griffin Conine, a 2018 2nd Round pick who’s worked his way up to Triple-A in Miami’s system but hasn’t yet reached the majors, and Conine turned it around for a two-run home run in the third inning of the Nationals’ left-hander’s four-inning, 47-pitch, 37-strike start last week.
Corbin missed his location on that particular pitch, but overall, he said, he’s been happy with the cutter as he’s worked to add it to the mix this spring.
“I think I like it,” Corbin said of the new pitch, as quoted by MASN’s Bobby Blanco.
“The homer today was just middle-up there. Not really knowing that hitter too well, but I probably wanted it away a little bit more. But sometimes that happens. I think other than that all the pitches were kind of where I wanted them. I’ve had some success with the cutter so far this camp, so just looking forward to using that.”
His manager said he was happy that four starts in this spring, Corbin (who had 10 Ks in 8 2⁄3 IP before yesterday’s start) hadn’t walked anyone yet in Grapefruit League action.
Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images
“It’s awesome,” Martinez said of Corbin pounding the zone and throwing strikes.
“He’s starting to get that cutter and changeup combination with the fastball. It looks good.”
“Just getting ahead with quality pitches and putting them in swing mode,” Corbin said of his early success as he prepares to start the final year of his 6-year/$140M deal in D.C.
“Get some ground balls and some easy fly balls. I think when you throw strikes, that forces them to swing and I’m able to mix things up. I mixed up the slider and the cutter and the fastball well. And threw some changeups early. So just a good combination of everything.”
Start No. 5 for Corbin got off to a rough start in a 29-pitch bottom of the first inning for the southpaw in which he gave up two runs and his first walk of the spring, and he was up to 52 pitches in two innings after he gave up a two-out hit, his second walk, and an RBI single on which a third run scored.
Corbin worked around a two-out single in the third, and got two outs in the fourth before he was done for the day, with 74 pitches on his arm, 45 of them strikes, three earned runs on the board, two walks allowed, and six Ks from the 18 batters he faced, “four of those coming on his newly developed cutter,” as MASN’s Mark Zuckerman noted in his report on the game in Jupiter, FL’s Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.
“Obviously, you want good results,” Corbin said, as quoted on MASNsports.com. “The first inning, to throw – what, 30 pitches? – is not ideal. But it’s going to happen at some point in the season. It’s not what you’re trying to do, but sometimes just try to see how you bounce back from that.”
“The balls that were really hit hard, they were all up,” his manager said, with the manager then reiterating the message he’s been delivering to Corbin as he’s struggled since 2019.
“We always talk about with him: When he’s down, he’s very effective. Pitch count got up there. … He’s got to understand that down is good for him.”
Corbin went slider-heavy in the outing, throwing it 36% of the time, with 23% sinkers, 22% cutters, 14% fastballs, and 5% changeups on the day.
ALSO THIS:
Before Monday’s game the Nationals put out the list of their first roster cuts of the spring:
Today’s roster moves:
Optioned to Triple-A Rochester:
-RHP Joan Adon
-RHP Cole Henry
-LHP DJ Herz
-LHP Mitchell Parker
-RHP Amos Willingham
-INF/OF Jake Alu
Re-assigned to Minor League Camp:
-OF Travis Blankenhorn
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
MLB.com’s Jessica Camerato had an interesting story on Monday looking at three of those pitchers who were optioned to Triple-A that fans should keep an eye on this season and in this Friday’s Spring Breakout game.
AND THIS:
Luis García made errors on back-to-back to plays on Saturday, throwing one away (on a throw MASN’s Bobby Blanco described as “too casual”) then missing a catch at second base on a potential double play, which, manager Davey Martinez said after the game was not acceptable.
“That can’t happen,” Martinez said.
“We talked about that with him. We got to be beyond that now with him. I mean, like I said, he’s not a rookie. He’s been in this league now for a while. Those things cannot happen. If we’re gonna compete and do the things we want to do, he’s got to play good defense. He’s got to play good defense, he’s gotta run the bases the right way, he’s got to work good at-bats. So I’ll talk to him tomorrow about it. But you can’t give up those kinds of errors like that.”
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
About that “run the bases the right way” bit: García made a mental error in the Nationals’ matchup with the Twins on Sunday.
Martinez didn’t hold back on that one either.
“That’s dumb. I mean, it really is,” Martinez said, as quoted on MASN.
“You shouldn’t get picked off there. You know? So I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow. It’s no outs, we get to start our inning, he gets on base for us and then (he gets picked off). That can’t happen. It can’t. But like I said, we got to move on from those mistakes like that. That could take us out of, potentially, a big inning.”
Will the tough love approach work with the still young, 23-year-old, four-year vet?