Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
Yes, it is Labor Day, and it has felt like a laborious task to watch Patrick Corbin for most of this season. The Washington Nationals have two other lefties now in the starting rotation who have bested Corbin, and chances are 99.9% of baseball fans have no idea who Josh Rogers and Sean Nolin are. Both have better ERA’s than the $24 million a year Corbin with his 6.27 ERA entering this game. In fact Rogers and Nolin will make well under $700,000 if they pitch the rest of the month on the Major League side.
Truthfully, the analytics on Corbin shows that he has been decent two times through the batting order. His issues really come into focus the 25-games that his manager has allowed him to face the opposing batting order for a third time. Look at that batting average and OBP at .367 and .423 respectively. So the question is why do the Nats continue to push Corbin for more innings when the stats scream to stop the insanity?
| Split | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | SO | SO/W | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st PA in G, as SP | 26 | 203 | 27 | 51 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 25 | 46 | 1.84 | .251 | .336 | .424 | .760 |
| 2nd PA in G, as SP | 26 | 217 | 36 | 57 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 51 | 5.67 | .263 | .294 | .475 | .769 |
| 3rd PA in G, as SP | 25 | 128 | 34 | 47 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 1.23 | .367 | .423 | .742 | 1.165 |
Have you ever heard a beat writer ask manager Dave Martinez why they keep pushing Corbin? How many more games would the Nationals have won this year if they pulled Corbin even before the first signs of trouble? If this game is about winning, then let’s see some change in how this team handles Corbin. It clearly wreaks from that this team talks about following the analytics but they clearly don’t. Few statlines have been clearer. This is what you get from 5th starters and that is what Corbin, Paolo Espino, and most of the rest of this rotation is until you prove differently.
The Mets have righty Trevor Williams on the mound and in the last month, he has been their best starting pitcher. Many of these Nats batters have faced him before.
After this game, the Nats have just 25-games remaining on their 2021 schedule. The team flies to Atlanta after this game.
New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 1:05 pm EDT
TV: MASN, SNY, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-ups subject to change without notice:
