Nats' young starters breathe deeply, get wins

WASHINGTON -- One pitch at a time.

That’s the emphasis manager Dave Martinez imparts on the Nationals’ starting pitchers, particularly those early in their Major League careers. With that outlook comes a multifaceted mental approach: managing their breath, controlling their heart rate, staying present.

“You can’t throw three pitches with one pitch, right?” Martinez said. “Just make that one pitch, and we’ll see what happens and go from there.”

Exhibiting that mindset, 24-year-old Josiah Gray and 23-year-old Joan Adon delivered poised performances in their starts during Tuesday’s doubleheader against the D-backs at Nationals Park.

Gray tossed 5 1/3 innings with three hits, one run, two walks and eight strikeouts over 87 pitches (season highs in frames and strikeouts) in the 6-1 matinee victory. Adon earned his first Major League win with a career-best 6 1/3 frames (the most of any Nationals pitcher this season), three hits, two walks, no runs and five strikeouts across 88 pitches in the Nats’ 1-0 evening shutout.

“We talk a lot about the mental aspect of the game,” Martinez said. “For me, it’s very important, especially when you’re young. ... I played the game a long time, and in situations where you’ve got the bases loaded or you have a chance to drive in a winning run, your heartbeat starts going and you’ve got to learn how to control yourself and stay in the moment.”

While Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey address these skills with the staff as a whole, they are especially pertinent to those who are not yet experienced in high-pressure situations. Of the Nationals’ starting pitchers, Adon (ranked as Washington’s No. 8 prospect, per MLB Pipeline), Gray and Josh Rogers have a combined 37 Major League appearances.

“Patrick [Corbin] has done it and has done it in a very, very high-leverage situation, as we all know, and he understands it a little bit better,” Martinez said. “But some of these younger guys have never experienced what it’s like, and they’re starting to get it. They’re starting to understand.”

Following Gray’s first win of the season last Wednesday in Atlanta, he noted the value of taking a deep breath, waiting for the sign and then taking another deep breath. On Tuesday, he demonstrated similar strategies when he encountered a potential fourth-inning jam after allowing a leadoff double to David Peralta. Gray struck out Seth Beer in the next at-bat and Keibert Ruiz threw out Peralta attempting to steal third, but a mound visit was required after he walked Cooper Hummel and gave up a single to Jake McCarthy. Gray locked in and fanned Sergio Alcántara on three pitches.

“[I focused on] not letting the moment get too big for me,” Gray said. “It could have been easy there after the Peralta double to let things snowball and have a walk here, a hit there -- and it’s a different ballgame. So [I was] just focusing on the next pitch and making that my biggest goal.”

Adon spent the past week working on his confidence and getting focused for his fourth big league career start. He got even more locked in by watching Gray’s Game 1 outing from the clubhouse so he could look beyond the scouting reports before facing the D-backs' lineup for the first time. When he took the mound, those off-the-field efforts translated into a "W."

“This kid, he’s bright and he pays attention,” Martinez said. “Today, he was fun to watch and it was fun to watch him compete.”

The goal is for pitch counts and innings to increase as these young starters build a foundation in the early stages of their careers. Though they are still relatively new to the Majors, the mindset that got them to this point doesn’t change.

“I told them, ‘You’ve done it before,’” Martinez said. “‘Nothing’s different. You’re playing in front of a lot of people, I get it, but you’ve done it your whole Minor League [career]. The reason why you’re here is because you were able to control yourself, you were able to do it. Just make your pitches.”