Nats continuing to assess starters' workloads down the stretch

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals entered their final homestand of the season having tabbed just eight starting pitchers this year, the second-fewest number of starters utilized by a team in 2023 behind only seven by the Blue Jays.

The majority of the Nats' starts have been made by Patrick Corbin, Josiah Gray, Trevor Williams, MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin. Chad Kuhl made five starts earlier this season, and Joan Adon joined an expanded six-man rotation in August. The total did not move to eight until Jackson Rutledge debuted on Sept. 13.

“I’ve had so many people ask me already, ‘How did you manage going through the year with only seven starters?” manager Dave Martinez said. “I just laugh, I don’t want to give away anything.

“But part of it is, the players buying into what they need to do in between starts, maintaining their strengths, their mechanics. … We went to that six-man rotation, which definitely helped. In the future, it’s something we’re really going to look at.”

With eight games remaining, see how the Nats are assessing this season’s workload of young and veteran pitchers alike following their 10-3 loss to the Braves on Thursday at Nationals Park.

RHP Jake Irvin
Since making his big league debut on May 3, Irvin has tallied 121 innings. This is notable for a rookie performance, and also because he missed the entire 2021 season because of Tommy John surgery.

The Nationals will check in with Irvin, 26, after he allowed five runs off seven hits and three walks in 2 2/3 innings against the Braves on Thursday. Irvin said pitching against playoff contenders this late in his first season is an opportunity to “learn as much and soak up as much as I can.”

“We’ll let him marinate tonight and talk to him tomorrow,” Martinez said. “He doesn’t want to finish the season like that, I know that. I’m going to make sure we go over everything and see where we’re at with him and then we’ll go from there.”

RHP Josiah Gray
After Gray’s innings count doubled last season from 70 to 148 2/3, the Nats have been monitoring his totals as they reached 153 frames in Wednesday’s start. He also pitched in the All-Star Game. Martinez had been watching Gray’s mechanics closely, and he gave the 25-year-old the green light on Thursday to make his next start.

“He’s good,” Martinez said. “He wants to finish. We’ll get him through his bullpen session, and we’ll keep an eye on him. But he said he felt good.”

Gray will finish his third Major League season on the road, where he has a 3.06 ERA, facing a divisional leader in either the Orioles or Braves.

“It gives you that competitive environment,” Gray said. “It makes you lock into every pitch, every situation, so I’m looking forward to it.”

RHP Trevor Williams
Williams, 31, already has accumulated 141 innings in 29 starts in his first season as a full-time starter since 2020. The Nationals decided to push back his next scheduled start day, Sunday, into next week. A starter has not been announced.

“I spoke to him, and he wants to finish the year off,” Martinez said. “I thought the best thing was to skip one and let him have one more.”

Williams has not made over 25 starts since 2019. Last season, 21 of his 30 appearances were out of the Mets bullpen (89 2/3 total innings). With this increased workload, Williams’ fastball velocity has dipped to a career-low 89.7 mph, compared to 91.2 mph in 2022.

“His velo’s down,” Martinez said. “I talked to him, and he said it’s been a long year. But he’s trying to push himself because he understands the importance of eating innings this year for next year. The more he can push his body through this year, he knows what he has to do over the winter to get through it next year. He’s been awesome, a guy that takes the ball.”

LHP MacKenzie Gore
Gore’s first full Major League season concluded after he was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sept. 9 because of blisters on his left middle finger. Martinez said on Wednesday the 24-year-old Gore will not pitch again this year.

“He went from 70 innings last year to [136 1/3]. He’s in a good spot,” Martinez said. “Unfortunately, he did have a blister issue, but I think he probably would have got one more start and we’d have shut him down.”

Gore went 7-10 with a 4.42 ERA in 27 starts during his debut season with Washington. He was on the IL when he was acquired from the Padres last August and did not pitch for the Nats in 2022. Gore recorded a team-high 11 strikeouts on May 28 at Kansas City.