Notes and quotes from the Nationals’ 1-0 win over the Rangers in Arlington, TX.
MAGICIAN:
Trevor Williams retired the side in order in the first inning last night, but given a 1-0 lead to work with in the top of the second inning of the second of three with the Texas Rangers in Arlington, TX, the starter surrendered three straight singles, as the home team loaded the bases with no one out.
A weak grounder to third and an out at home, a foul-tip strike three, and a groundout over to short followed as Williams worked his way out of the early jam.
Washington’s starter stranded two, two-out walks in the Rangers’ third, and a leadoff walk in the fourth, then in the fifth, the Nationals’ recently-turned 32-year-old right-hander gave up back-to-back singles, and a base-loading walk, before he got another out at home, another K, and a pop to short-center shortstop CJ Abrams caught for out No. 3.
Williams was up to 79 pitches, in some high-leverage situations, after that, and his manager Davey Martinez decided, as he usually does with Williams, it was enough.
Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
Derek Law, Dylan Floro, Hunter Harvey, and Kyle Finnegan followed, holding Rangers’ hitters to one hit and a couple walks over the next four innings in what ended up a 1-0 win.
“I can’t say enough about what [Williams] did for five innings there, then the bullpen came in and threw the ball really well,” Martinez said after his club evened things up in the three-game set in Texas.
“As I often say, we try to get one more than the other guys. And today, it came true.”
How did he assess Williams’ outing? And his work to get out of those bases-loaded, no-out jams?
“Magician?” he joked.
“He got out of some tough situations,” Martinez said. “That lineup is good over there, it really is. So, he made some really good pitches in key moments. It was awesome. That particular moment, he had some high-leverage situations throughout the game, so we thought our bullpen can handle the rest.”
“Believe it or not, I’ve been there before,” Williams told reporters, as quoted by MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, of escaping multiple jams:
“I’ve pitched with bases loaded, no outs before. You’re just taking it one pitch at a time. … You just trust that as a pitcher, no matter what, you have the advantage. You’re trying to execute your pitches first, but you’re also trying to exploit the hitter wanting to do a little too much.”
“It’s trusting in Riley and trusting that he does his homework,” Williams said of how you get out of those situations, “and it’s something that you trust your catcher in that situation, you trust the guys behind you, and thankfully the ball bounced our way today, and we were able to have that shutdown inning in the second, and then we were able to pitch out of it in the fifth, but in those situations, you trust your catcher, and you trust your preparation, and you trust that the guys are going to make the plays behind you.
“Because the guys behind us, they want the ball every time.
“What you can’t defend is walks, and especially with the bases loaded, no outs, you’ve got nowhere to put them, but the guys behind me want to make that play, and force the guys behind me to make that play.”
“I really think his mix of pitches, I think him and Riley [Adams] really work good together,” Martinez said when asked how Williams got out of the jams.
“Really. He threw some really, really good pitches in key moments to get out of the inning. And he battled. I always say the guy grinds, he battles, and he did a great job today.”
ANOTHER NOTE ON WILLIAMS:
In 2023, Trevor Williams allowed an NL-leading 34 home runs, but through six starts this season (and yes, this is super-jinxy), the veteran pitcher hasn’t allowed a single homer:
Trevor Williams has not surrendered a home run in his first six starts of the season. His current streak is one short of the Nationals record (2005-pres.) to start a season.
Gio Gonzalez did not allow a home run in any of his first 7 starts of the 2012 season.
— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) May 2, 2024
What’s been different for Williams early this year?
“The ability to change speeds and keep the ball down,” manager Davey Martinez said after start No. 6 of 2024 for Williams.
“He’s been doing it all year. We talked last year: He threw a lot of balls up. That’s where the home runs came. This year, he’s really keeping the ball down, pitching effectively up when he needs to, but he’s really mixing his pitches and keeping everything down.”
EDDIE IN APRIL:
Eddie Rosario’s 0 for 3 night at the plate on Tuesday left him 6 for 68 (.088/.137/.162) in 22 games and 73 plate appearances this season, with two doubles and one home run early.
Asked after the game about the 32-year-old veteran’s struggles over the first month-plus this season, Davey Martinez told reporters after the series opener in Arlington, TX, it was way too early to be thinking of benching Rosario.
“He’s been hitting the ball — other than today — and like I said, nobody really hit the ball hard today — he’s been hitting the ball hard, he really has,” Martinez said.
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Rosario’s 38.5% HardHit% early, is actually up slightly from his career average, (33.9%), but his 3.8% Barrel% is down from 9.5% in 2023 and a 7.2% career average, while he’s hitting it on the sweet spot (13.5% Sweet Spot %) less than he did in 2023 (35.9%), and less than he has overall in his career (32.6%).
“He’ll get himself out of this,” Martinez told reporters.
“I’ve seen him do this. If you look at his numbers in April, they’re not very good, tomorrow we start May, so hopefully tomorrow he breaks out of it and he hits like we know he can.”
Rosario has a career .205/.248/.369 line in March/April with his 2024 start included, and in 2023 he put up a .230/.269/.419 line in the first month-plus.
He has a .287/.313/.458 career line in the month of May, a .299/.347/.539 career line in June, a .271/.304/.431 line in July, a .272/.308/.465 career line in August, and a .262/.298/.473 line in September.
While he’s waiting for things to heat up at the plate, Rosario, who signed a 1-year/$2M deal with the club in early March, is acting as a mentor for some of the young Nationals, and he is finding ways to contribute even if he’s not producing at the plate.
Martinez said on Tuesday Rosario has had a noticeable effect on Luis García, Jr. early this season.
What is Rosario doing to help the 23-year-old infielder?
“He keeps him engaged, he prepares him — days that they don’t play because there’s a left-handed [pitcher], he makes sure that Luis gets in the cage and gets ready to go because there’s situations where we might use them both, so he’s been helping him a lot.
“How to play the game, what to look for — what to look for pitching-wise, who’s in the bullpen, when he might hit. He talks to him a lot about all that stuff.”