TAMPA BAY RAYS NOTES:
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WASHINGTON NATIONALS NOTES:
BLOOM DAY
The Washington Nationals close out this opening homestand with the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon…The Nationals will travel to Colorado for a four-game series against the Rockies before moving on to Los Angeles for a three-game set against the Angels.
• Washington looks to avoid their first sweep of the season on Wednesday…The Nationals last suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of the Rays, June 12-14, 2006 in Tampa…Washington has never been swept by the Rays in a three-game series at home.
• The Nationals are wearing the Cherry Blossom City Connect jerseys to celebrate the National Cherry Blossom Festival.
HITTERISH
Some notes on a few hitters early in the 2023 season:
• Alex Call has driven in at least one run in all three of his starts this season…He is tied with Lane Thomas for the club lead with four RBI, despite playing in three of the five games…Call has reached base safely in six of 12 plate appearances with three hits and three walks.
• Keibert Ruiz has reached base safely in all four games he’s played and in seven of 16 plate appearances (4 H, 2 BB, HBP)…He is behind Call for second on the club with a .438 on-base percentage.
• Lane Thomas is 8-for-21 (.381) with two doubles, four RBI and one run scored through five games this season…He’s hit safely in four of five games.
BULLPENNING
Washington’s bullpen has held opposing batters to a .238 batting average through the first five games.
• Carl Edwards Jr. (2.0 IP, BB, SO), Hobie Harris (1.2 IP, H, BB, 2 SO) and Erasmo Ramírez (4.0 IP, 3 H, BB, SO) have all tossed scoreless relief so far this season.
• Mason Thompson has tossed 5.0 innings of two-hit, one-run relief across two outings…He threw 2.0 innings on March 30 vs. Atlanta (2.0 IP, H, 3 SO) and matched a career-high with 3.0 innings on April 3 vs. Tampa Bay (3.0 IP, H, ER, HR, SO)…He has yet to issue a walk this season.
KUHL AND THE GANG
MacKenzie Gore and Trevor Williams each made their Nationals debut the last two games, and Chad Kuhl made his Nationals debut tonight…According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the second time in Nationals history (2005-pres.) that at least three starting pitchers made their club debut on consecutive nights.
• Elias notes that the other time it happened was Washington’s first four games of the 2005 season: Livan Hernandez, Zach Day, Esteban Loaiza and Tomo Ohka.
• The last time it happened in Major League Baseball was April 11-13, 2022 when Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer and Chris Paddack made their first starts as members of the Minnesota Twins, per Elias.
NOTHING BUT A NUMBER
The Nationals are one of six teams with at least three players in the top 50 youngest players in Major League Baseball to start the season…The Arizona Diamondbacks (5), St. Louis Cardinals (5), Detroit Tigers (3), Pittsburgh Pirates (3) and Seattle Mariners (3) also have three players in the top 50.
• CJ Abrams (22) is the third-youngest player in Major League Baseball, while Luis Garcia (23) is 15th and Keibert Ruiz (24) is 50th.
OPPONENT
TAMPA BAY RAYS
The Nationals and Rays will meet three times this season, all in D.C….Nationals manager Dave Martinez played three seasons (1998-2000) for the Devil Rays…He recorded the first hit in Tampa Bay Devil Rays history on March 31, 1998…He returned to spend seven seasons (2008-14) as the Rays’ bench coach after serving as a Spring Training instructor for them in 2006-07…Tim Bogar worked with Martinez during the 2008 season, serving as Tampa Bay’s quality assurance coach…Jim Hickey served as Tampa Bay’s pitching coach from 2007-17…Corey Dickerson hit 51 home runs across two seasons (2016-17) with Tampa Bay, including a career-high 27 in his 2017 American League All-Star season… Erasmo Ramírez went 22-20 with a 3.98 ERA in 124 games (36 starts) across three seasons (2015-17) with Tampa Bay…Rays pitcher Kevin Kelly graduated from St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly before attending James Madison University… Rays infielder Brandon Lowe grew up in Suffolk, Va. before attending the University of Maryland.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – #46 PATRICK CORBIN
Left-handed pitcher signed a six-year contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018…Was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series…Is a two-time National League All-Star (2018, 2013)… Has started at least 30 games for five consecutive full seasons (2017-19, 2021-22), joining Gerrit Cole as the only pitchers since 2017 to accomplish the feat.
LAST START
Made his third career Opening Day start on March 30 vs. Atlanta…Allowed two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 3.0 innings of work.
vs. TAMPA BAY
Has faced the Rays one other time, June 9, 2021 at Tampa Bay (5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO)…Squared off against Shane McClanahan (3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO) in that game as well…The Nationals won, 9-7, in 11 innings.
2023 SPRING TRAINING
Corbin went 1-3 with a 4.50 ERA in five Spring Training starts…He struck out 15 batters and walked just two in 18.0 innings of Grapefruit League action…One start was cancelled due to rain which led to a simulated game in it’s place.
• Corbin’s best start came on March 20 vs. New York (NL) when he tossed 6.0 innings of one-run, five-hit ball…He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT, FELLAS
Since 2019, Corbin is 27-3 with a 2.63 ERA when he throws at least 6.0 innings and receives at least three runs of support…The Nationals are 30-3 in those games.
2022
Led Nationals pitchers with 31 starts and 152.2 innings pitched…Pitched to a 1.96 ERA (4 ER/18.1 IP) with 13 strikeouts and four walks in three starts from Aug. 21-Sept. 3…Enjoyed his best extended stretch of the season from Aug. 16 to Sept. 20, going 2-2 with a 3.35 ERA…Walked just six batters along the way…Threw his sixth career complete game on May 4 at Colorado (8.0 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 3 SO)…..Matched a career high with 12 strikeouts on June 28 vs. Pittsburgh (8.0 IP, 5 H, ER, 12 SO, 2 BB)…2022 Pitch Mix: Sinker (43.5%) Slider (29.4%) 4-Seam Fastball (18.8%) Changeup (8.3%).
A SEASON TO REMEMBER
Ranked in the National League in strikeouts (4th, 238), innings (5th, 202.0), fWAR (6th, 4.8), ERA (8th, 3.25) and strikeouts per 9.0 IP (8th, 10.60) in 2019… His 238 strikeouts ranked first among National League left-handed pitchers…His 2.40 home ERA ranked sixth in Major League Baseball, fifth in the National League and third in a single season in Nationals history (2005-pres.)…Held opposing left-handed hitters to a .248 slugging percentage (2 2B, 2 HR) and .190 batting average (26-for-137), the best marks among Major League left-handed starting pitchers.
• Made his career Postseason debut, starting in Game 1 of the NLDS…Went on to make two more starts (Game 4 NLCS, Game 4 WS) and five relief appearances…In Game 4 of the NLCS against St. Louis, he struck out 12 batters in 5.0 innings pitched and allowed four earned runs on four hits with three walks…He matched Stephen Strasburg for the most strikeouts in a Postseason game in franchise history and became the first pitcher in MLB Postseason history to log 12 strikeouts while not pitching more than 5.0 innings…He also became first pitcher in Postseason history to start a potential series-clinching game with four straight strikeouts in that game…Tossed 1.1 scoreless innings in Game 5 of the NLDS vs. Los Angeles and tossed 0.1 scoreless inning in Game 2 of the NLCS…Earned the win after tossing 3.0 innings of scoreless ball in Game 7 of the World Series.’
