Keister on Fedde's hot streak: "He's in a good place right now"

Right-hander Erick Fedde has been keeping opponents off the scoreboard recently, allowing one or less earned runs in each of his last six outings.

On Friday in a 5-1 win over Carolina, Fedde twirled six innings, allowing three hits and one run with one walk and eight strikeouts. He has won five of his last six decisions.

High Single-A Potomac manager Tripp Keister, appearing with me on Sunday's "Nats Insider" on 106.7 The Fan, likes the groove and tempo Fedde is pitching with heading to the middle of July.

"I really like where he is right now," Keister said. "I've always heard, especially in our organization we do a great job with the kids that have Tommy John. One of the things that I've always heard about is command and the feel is the last thing to come back."

Keister said the 2014 first-round selection Fedde got that feel back for his pitches and is now pitching with extreme confidence.

"I think he was missing spots and some location earlier in the season," Keister said. "He's getting that feel right now. His slider has really been an out pitch. He gets swings and misses with that slider. His fastball sitting at 94, 95 mph range. He's commanding his fastball. His changeup, his third pitch, but it is definitely developing well. I really like where he is now. He's pitching with an edge."

Keister said the best example of how Fedde, 23, is not backing down to every opportunity was the rain-delayed start he endured on July 3 at Myrtle Beach.

"He only had a one-inning outing a couple times ago because we had a rain-shortened start of the game," Keister explained. "We had an hour and a half rain delay, so we wouldn't let him go back out. He was a little bit upset by that."

That kind of drive is what we see from Nationals starter Max Scherzer, who did not want to come out of his last start against the Mets.

"He's been pitching with a chip on his shoulder," Keister said. "It's been fun to watch. He's in a good place right now."

Fedde is now 5-3 with a 4.13 ERA in 12 starts for the P-Nats. He has 61 strikeouts with 15 walks.

Programming Note: Richmond listeners, tune in to ESPN 950 Richmond today at 3:30 p.m. I will be on with host and voice of the Spiders Bob Black talking Nats.

Also, the next edition of the District 34 podcast with Bobby Blanco drops later today with All-Star thoughts on the Nats and a look ahead to the second half.