The Nationals signed Trevor Williams in December to help stabilize the back of their rotation, enticing the veteran right-hander with a two-year, $13 million deal after he had success as a swingman for the Mets.
The thinking: Williams could provide valuable innings for a rotation that was short on proven arms, then potentially transition to the bullpen if enough young starters established their worth.
As the season enters its final weeks, Williams’ performance suggests his hold on a starting job should be tenuous. But without enough young alternatives presenting themselves, the Nats may have no choice but to just stick with the struggling right-hander the way Davey Martinez stuck with him today during a disastrous outing.
Williams was battered around Nationals Park by a Marlins lineup that launched four homers off him in the span of four innings en route to an 11-5 blowout that spoiled an otherwise splendid September Saturday afternoon at the yard.
The homers kept getting more damaging, from a pair of seemingly harmless solo shots to a pair of three-run blasts that put the game out of reach no matter how many outs still needed to be recorded.
It wasn’t, by strict definition, the worst start in Nationals history. Others have allowed more runs, and one of today’s was unearned. But Williams nonetheless is the first pitcher in club history to give up nine runs and 12 hits in a single appearance, and that made this one particularly difficult to watch.
"When he's down (in the zone), he's pretty effective," Martinez said. "Everything he plays with is down: changeups, sliders, breaking balls. When he gets the ball up is when he gets in trouble."
Williams actually entered this one on an upswing, having shut out the Phillies for six innings in Williamsport, Pa., and then held this same Marlins lineup to two runs over seven innings in a tough-luck loss Sunday afternoon in Miami.
But it quickly became apparent today would be different when Jake Burger launched an 0-2 pitch deep to left in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead. It only got worse from there.
Williams allowed another run in the second, this one via an Xavier Edwards double and Luis Arraez's two-out single. Then the wheels fell off. Burger blasted another homer in the third, crushing an 88-mph fastball to left-center. Jesús Sánchez launched a three-run homer later in the inning to extend the lead.
And when Bryan De La Cruz drove an 87-mph sinker to left in the top of the fourth for a 9-1 lead, the crowd voiced its displeasure with the man standing on the mound, helpless to contain the carnage.
"They put some good swings on the ball today," Williams said. "Unfortunately for us, I just put us in too deep of a hole, and it's something we couldn't get out of. The three-run homers are definitely rally-killers. For us, to give those up so early, it's too hard to try to climb out of that."
Williams, whose ERA has climbed to 5.21, has now surrendered 33 home runs this season, most in the National League and third-most in club history. With perhaps four more starts to make, he has a chance to catch or surpass the 37 homers Patrick Corbin allowed in 2021 or the 38 homers Josiah Gray served up last year.
Why would a pitcher in such a situation get the opportunity to chase such ignominious records? Because, as was the case the previous two seasons with Corbin and Gray, the Nationals can’t claim to have five better starting options right now.
They may get a look at a couple young starters before the month is over in 2019 first-round pick Jackson Rutledge and 2022 Rule 5 draft pick Thaddeus Ward. But those right-handers almost certainly would be replacing fellow rookies MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, whose innings totals are being closely monitored and who are likely to be shut down before the calendar reaches October.
That most likely leaves Williams in the rotation for now, needed to chew up some late-season innings and take the workload off his younger counterparts’ shoulders.
"Look, whenever you're a starting pitcher, you want to get as many starts as possible," he said. "The goal is 32, and we know once it's the second half, you have to grind through. ... For me, I'm learning again on the fly what works best for my body and how to prepare my body every five days to do this. I'm thankful that my body has held up, and I know there's still work to be done. This was my first start in September, and hopefully I have four or five still to go."
Whether there’s still a need for him at the back of the 2024 rotation remains an open-ended question, one the team will have to confront this winter as it considers more established outside options, then next spring as it evaluates its stock in hopes of fielding five building-block starters instead of stopgap solutions.
"As much as I love Trevor, as we all know, and he's done real well for us, this is the most he's pitched in a while," Martinez said. "His innings are up there. So I get a little for him, too. ... This is obviously a lot for him. We've got to try to manage that as well with him. Hopefully he can bounce back for us in his next start, but we've got to keep an eye on him as well. I don't want to send him home hurt or aching. I want him to be ready to go again next year."