Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ 3-1 loss to the Mets in Port St. Lucie, FL.
Jake Irvin made his first two appearances of the spring this year in relief, and the 27-year-old right-hander struggled, with two hit batters, four Ks, two hits, and one run allowed the first time out, and then a total of five hits, two walks, and seven runs, six earned, allowed in 1 2⁄3 innings pitched his second time on the mound.
“He was a little quick, flying open,” Davey Martinez said, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, after Irvin threw 50 pitches in 1 2⁄3 IP in that second appearance.
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“We’ve got to get him to relax a little bit,” the Nats’ skipper continued.
“He’s working on a bunch of different secondary pitches. I’m going to sit down and talk to him: His next outing, just get the ball in the zone and work ahead.”
Martinez decided to send Irvin out as a starter for appearance No. 3, after he’d piggybacked with starter MacKenzie Gore, with the southpaw starting before each of Irvin’s first two trips to the hill.
“Irvin’s been coming out of the bullpen,” the manager explained.
“Just got to get him revved up. I want him to start this time. [Gore and Irvin are] both [pitching] on the same day, so we’ll have [a day] off and then we have another day off so it works out.”
Irvin, a 2018 4th Round pick, made 24 starts for the Nationals in 2023, posting a 4.61 ERA, a 5.31 FIP, 54 walks, 99 strikeouts, and a .255/.340/.431 line against in 121 IP, with a strong run late in the season during which he put up a 2.65 ERA, a 4.64 FIP, and a .226/.300/.387 line against in a six-start stretch between early August and early September.
He struggled in back-to-back outings to wrap up his first run in the majors.
Irvin told MASN’s Bobby Blanco he was not focused on his own stats after the first two outings this year, but was just concentrating on earning a spot in the rotation in 2024.
“Right now, it’s just trying to compete and make the team,” Irvin said.
“The big focus for me this offseason was changeup and the new cutter that I added, so I’m working on that a lot. But overall, man, it’s just getting hitters out.”
In spite of his rise last season, and the fact he was able to stick in the majors, making those 24 starts, Irvin said he’s taking nothing for granted and fighting for his spot in the ‘23 Nats’ rotation:
“Nothing is handed to us,” he said. “And at the end of the day, we got to come in and compete and show that we still earn that role.”
Getting to start again, he hoped, would be a little more comfortable, considering he’s started in 85 of 89 appearances as a pro:
“I’m not acquainted with coming out of the ‘pen. It’s different for me. But it’s one of those things that you just got to deal with. Take the ball whenever your name is called. But yeah, it’d be nice to start though.”
Irvin, given his first chance to start on Thursday, tossed four scoreless innings on 51 pitches, 37 of them strikes, striking out five batters without allowing a walk.
He threw 45% fastballs (23 of 51), averaging just under 96 MPH with his four-seamer, and he mixed in 13 curves (25%), eight cutters (16%), and seven sinkers (14%), in a solid outing by the right-hander.
“Good to get in that routine again,” Irvin said of starting again, as quoted by MASN’s Blanco, after what ended up a 3-1 loss to New York’s Mets.
“The goal is just kind of be in attack mode, be on the offensive all night and I think we did a good job.
“(Catcher Drew Millas) and I had a really good game plan and executed really well.”
“Jake was good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He was very good, very efficient. Fastball was live. He threw the ball over the plate for the most part. The cutter was good. He didn’t throw any changeups today. He just wanted to work on his cutter.”
Irvin was really happy with the results on the cutters he did throw:
“The cutter is going to be a weapon,” Irvin said. “Really excited about that. Threw it really well today and built a lot of confidence throwing it to those hitters. I know that that’s something that we want to emphasize in the future and it was good to use it a lot today.”
“His fastball was really good,” Martinez added. “His curveball he could drop for strikes. And that’s really good. A good outing.”