Mar 31, 2019; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin (46) delivers a second inning pitch against the New York Mets at Nationals Park. Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Trevor Williams is trying to build off last season, when he posted an impressive 3.11 ERA in 31 starts.
His next challenge will come Friday at Washington when he faces the Nationals and left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-0, 3.75 ERA).
Williams (1-0, 2.25) will oppose a Nationals lineup that has posted 25 runs in the past two games. Williams is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in three career games, including two starts, against Washington.
Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle told reporters of his exit interview after last season with Williams, “I didn’t have a big ask of him. He laid out his road map for the offseason about how he wanted to attack this season. He keeps a journal. He pays attention. He reads swings. He uses analytics. He watches video. I see a lot of maturity.”
Williams kept throwing after the 2018 season.
“It wasn’t like he was throwing (bullpen sessions) every day,” pitching coach Ray Searage told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review of Williams. “But he’d go to 60 or 70 feet and keep (his arm) active as opposed to shutting it down completely. And he did that for a short amount of time. But then he kept playing catch.”
Williams will be on the mound as the Nationals return home from a 4-2 road trip in which they took three-game series from the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.
Even with a 7.79 bullpen ERA — the worst in the major leagues — Washington feels good about its start against National League East foes.
The Nationals’ eighth-inning ERA is 14.73, by far the majors’ highest, but Washington got six shutout innings out of its relievers in a 10-inning, 10-6 win over the Phillies on Tuesday. Juan Soto crushed a three-run homer to break a tie.
“I said it all along: We’re playing well,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “Our bullpen’s starting to pitch the way they’re capable of pitching. And we’re swinging the bats. I’m proud of the guys.”
The Nationals had 17 hits Wednesday in a 15-1 win at Philadelphia, with first baseman Matt Adams driving in four runs in the road trip’s finale.
Adam Eaton and Brian Dozier, who had been struggling, each had three hits in the victory. Washington third baseman Anthony Rendon extended his hitting streak to 10 games, and he is batting .429 on the year.
“We made their pitches come to us,” Adams said after the Wednesday game. “This was a good road trip.”
The Nationals took a bus back to the nation’s capital, and Washington was off Thursday. Eaton led the cheers at the Capitals’ 4-2 home playoff win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night.
It will be a quick turnaround for the Pirates, who lost 2-0 to the Cubs on Thursday night in Chicago. The game was delayed by rain more than an hour after the seventh inning. Pittsburgh managed only five hits and a walk while striking out 14 times against three Cubs pitchers.
The Pirates will look to get the better of Corbin, who is 1-2 with a 4.75 ERA in six career starts against Pittsburgh. His first two starts this year were against the New York Mets, and he lasted six innings each time in a pair of no-decisions on March 31 and last Saturday.
Williams also has gone exactly six innings in each of his first two starts this year. He did not allow a run in his first outing at Cincinnati, then gave up four runs (three earned) last Saturday vs. the Reds.
