LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Patrick Corbin made his first start in a Nationals uniform on Monday. The left-hander was sharp for the most part, facing a potent Braves lineup. His two-inning stint was impressive, though as a whole, the Nats' staff was battered in the 9-4 loss.
Corbin struck out two, whiffing the Braves’ Nos. 3 and 4 batters, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Tyler Flowers – the latter on a called third strike in his only three-ball count.
“It was good to come here and face kind of their lineup that they’ll probably have against me during the season. It was good to go out there and kind of see how my stuff played. I was just happy with going out there throwing strikes, getting ahead of guys and being able to use all my pitches,” Corbin said.
Corbin did not walk a batter. The only player to reach base was Braves third baseman Johan Camargo, who hit a line-drive double past Nationals third baseman Matt Reynolds, who was unable to field the hot shot.
It was exactly the kind of outing Nationals manager Dave Martinez could have hoped for.
“It was really good, he threw strikes,” Martinez said. “He was sharp. What I like about him is he’s not afraid to use all his pitches at different counts. That’s always good. He mixed his pitches well; he can throw them for strikes.”
Three routine ground balls completed Corbin’s easy 10-pitch first inning. He retired the first five batters he faced before Camargo’s double. He finished his outing by getting Charlie Culberson to fly out to Juan Soto in left. Soto knocked in two of the Nats' four runs on a single in the third inning.
“It was good, fastball command was great today. For the first time out there being able to throw everything with Gomes in a real game and see some of their better hitters was all positive,” Corbin said.
Yan Gomes made the long bus ride to do the catching for an appreciative Corbin.
“It’s good to kind of get a feel. He doubled up on some curveballs today, which I thought was good, and worked in the changeup, fastball in and out,” said Corbin, following his successful outing.
In six seasons with the D-backs, Corbin won 56 of 110 decisions and posted a 3.91 ERA. He appeared in 172 games for Arizona, starting 154. Control has always been his strength. In 945 2/3 innings, Corbin has struck out 897 and walked just 271.
Corbin is coming off arguably his most successful season in the Majors, going 11-7 with career bests in ERA (3.15), WHIP (1.05), hits allowed per nine innings (7.3), and home runs allowed per nine innings (0.7), and a career-high in strikeouts (246), games started (33), strikeouts per nine innings (11.1) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.13).
Corbin's 246 strikeouts in 2018 ranked third in the National League behind Max Scherzer (300) and Jacob deGrom (269). Corbin walked only 48, and opposing batters hit just .218 against him.
The two-time All-Star signed a six-year deal with the Nats as a free agent in December.
“For the first one out there, I was pleased with everything and now I’ll just continue to build the pitch count up,” Corbin said.