Corbin takes another loss as Nats fall to Rays (updated)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – From the outset of this season, there have been several anticipated developments that would signify major steps forward for the rebuilding Nationals. When would CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore become big-time big-leaguers? When would James Wood make his major league debut? And when would the club have enough quality pitching depth to bump Patrick Corbin from his longstanding spot in the rotation?

As the calendar now shifts to July, we’ve already seen the first question come into focus with the ascension of Abrams and Gore. And we’re about to see the second one answered Monday night when one of the top prospects in baseball makes his planned major league debut.

The answer to the third question, though, remains very much up in the air. And today’s events, both here at Tropicana Field and 1,300 miles to the north at Frontier Field in Rochester, did little to clear things up.

During a 5-0 loss to the Rays, Corbin put forth a performance that epitomizes his last four seasons: four runs allowed in six innings. It wasn’t good, but neither was it bad enough to warrant immediate removal from the rotation.

"I thought my stuff today was pretty good," the veteran lefty said. "Sometimes, it doesn't really translate to the scorecard."

Simultaneously, the most obvious candidate to replace Corbin was getting rocked at Triple-A, with Josiah Gray surrendering seven runs in three innings in his latest rehab start for Rochester.

Gray, the Nationals’ 2023 All-Star and 2024 Opening Day starter, has been out since mid-April with a flexor strain in his right elbow. He made four previous rehab starts at three different levels of the minors, and his most recent one included only one run allowed over six strong and efficient innings.

But today’s outing saw some severe regression from Gray, who served up a pair of three-run homers to the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate from Indianapolis. He needed 73 pitches just to complete three innings, only 43 of those strikes. And his fastball topped out at 91.9 mph, perhaps cause for concern.

"I haven't gotten anything yet," said manager Davey Martinez, who was mostly preoccupied today with the early-morning birth of his granddaughter at a nearby hospital. "I'll sit back and look over some stuff tonight and see what we've got."

Club officials have been noncommittal about the plan to activate Gray off the 60-day injured list, but it’s tough to foresee them bringing him back now on the heels of such a concerning pitching performance. Which means Corbin may continue to remain safe, no matter how well or poorly he pitches.

Corbin entered this game on something of a hot streak. Owner of a 6.15 ERA earlier this month, he was headed back on the right track with three straight strong starts that included a 2.60 ERA and 0.981 WHIP. In the process, he may have staved off demotion to the bullpen.

The left-hander reverted back to his prior form this afternoon, though. He opened the second inning with a first-pitch homer surrendered to Isaac Paredes, a no-doubter to left-center that put the Nationals in a 1-0 hole.

Three batters later, José Caballero also was circling the bases, having blasted a 90-mph sinker to left for a two-run homer and a 3-0 lead that felt insurmountable even at that early stage of the game.

"Two missed locations," Martinez said. "All of a sudden, that one inning - a three-run inning - got him. But other than that, he threw the ball well."

Corbin, as he does, managed to minimize damage after that and if nothing else provided length for a Nationals pitching staff that’s only three days into a stretch of 17 consecutive game days prior to the All-Star break. He allowed another run in the fourth thanks to Paredes’ leadoff triple and a subsequent sacrifice fly, but that’s all he gave up before departing after 93 pitches across six innings. This was the eighth time he's reached at least the sixth in his last nine starts.

"I'm going to try to go out there until Davey comes out and gets me," he said. "Sometimes these games where you don't score and you're able to put up six (innings), you can maybe save some of those other guys (in the bullpen). You try to go out there and do your job until they come out and get it."

It didn’t matter much how Corbin or anyone from the Nats bullpen pitched today, because the lineup was rendered helpless by right-hander Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay bullpen.

Bradley, who entered with 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings, notched 11 of them in only 5 2/3 innings this afternoon, keeping the Nationals’ hitters completely off-balance with a devastating fastball-splitter combo. Their only good scoring opportunity against the 23-year-old came in the third, when Jacob Young and Abrams hit back-to-back singles and wound up on second and third. But Lane Thomas struck out on a splitter, and Jesse Winker grounded out to first to end that threat, and Bradley wasn’t tested again until he departed in the sixth.

"You try to zone him in and get the ball down, but it's hard to do when he's throwing strikes at the top of the zone," Winker said. "He pitched great. He got in a great groove. He was attacking everybody with everything. And then that makes his heater, which is already 98, even better. He was great today. Hats off to him. He shoved."

The Nationals’ offensive woes are nothing new, but they hope Monday’s planned call-up of Wood injects some much-needed life (and power) to their lineup. Then they can only turn their attention back to the lingering rotation question that still doesn’t have a clear answer.