Corbin ready to prove worth this spring

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Every Spring Training is a fresh start for pitchers, when records are reset and ERAs are dialed back to zero. Patrick Corbin is embracing that blank canvas on the mound as he enters his 11th Major League season.

“I'm as excited as I've ever been,” Corbin said.

What is sparking that excitement?

“Maybe trying to just prove something,” he said. “I know I can still go out there and be the pitcher that I was, and I'm as confident as I've ever been. A lot of ups and downs, you learn from them and try to get better, and that's baseball.”

• What to know about Nationals Spring Training

Coming off a 2022 season in which he went 6-19 with a 6.31 ERA in 31 starts, Corbin arrived early to Nationals camp. He focused this winter on repeating his mechanics, working on his slider, being healthy and honing in on his arm slot, which he thought got “a little high … [and was] not the same shape” last season.

“I think last year, the velo, things like that were still there, just something was just a tick off,” Corbin said. “And I'm just trying to be more consistent with all my pitches.”

• Projecting Nats' 2023 Opening Day roster

The past three seasons of Corbin’s career have been juxtaposed with his previous successes. After earning his first All-Star nod in 2018 with the D-backs and winning a World Series in '19 with the Nationals, his results have dipped since '20 to a cumulative record of 17-42. He has averaged 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings for two seasons in a row, compared to 10.6 in '19 and a career-high 11.1 in '18.

"I think that he's a different pitcher than he was in '17, '18 and '19,” general manager Mike Rizzo said. “He struck out a lot more guys. He's more of a pitch-to-contact guy right now, with the ability to strike guys out when he needs to. But I just think that he's got to stay within himself, he's got to believe in his stuff still. I think he's got to pound the strike zone.

“You’ve heard me say it over the last two years -- he's got to pitch in, he's got to pitch aggressively and he's got to get quicker contact. And with that, you have an infield that is reliable and can pick the ball up, I think that will help him. But the onus is on him to pitch better and to utilize his stuff and trust his stuff again when he was in Cy Young voting a couple years in a row.”

Corbin faced Luis García, Joey Meneses and Dominic Smith in live batting practice on Saturday morning. Manager Dave Martinez was “very pleased” with what he observed, including the spin on Corbin’s slider.

“I saw some ground balls today, and that’s where he needs to be,” Martinez said. “I’m not really concerned about him striking guys out. With him, it’s a lot of weak contact when he’s good. But the main focus is: one, health; two, working the bottom of the zone and utilizing his slider the way we know he can. Last year, he threw some really decent sliders toward the end. We want him to continue to do that.”

In addition to his performance on the mound, Corbin, 33, is bringing veteran experience to a starting rotation projected to include Josiah Gray, 25; Cade Cavalli, 24; and MacKenzie Gore, 23. Corbin emphasized the importance of building chemistry within the group by talking and hanging out “as much as possible.” He also wants to lead by example by staying on the mound.

“That's my number one goal every spring: to come in, make every start and be accountable and take the ball,” Corbin said. “I think if you can teach that to those guys, how to keep your body healthy to be able to do that no matter the results, hopefully at the end of the season, you can be happy with it or at least learn with what you’ve done.”