Williams takes unusual path to 90 pitches; Finnegan healthy in return

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Trevor Williams walked from the Nationals dugout to a pitching mound seven different times Thursday afternoon. He threw a total of 90 pitches during that time.

So why does the official box score from the Nats’ 9-8 win over the Twins show Williams having only pitched five innings? Let’s attempt to explain …

Williams completed his first four innings in rapid fashion, facing only a batter over the minimum, with a scant pitch count of 44. The plan was to get him up to 90 pitches in his final Grapefruit League start of the spring.

But with a host of Nationals relievers also needing work, the innings were going to run out. So manager Davey Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey told Williams he would be pulled at some point during the top of the fifth. By the time that point came, the right-hander had already allowed four runs on four hits.

In came Matt Barnes, who induced a double play grounder to end the inning. But when the top of the sixth arrived, there was Williams re-taking the mound, taking advantage of a special spring training rule allowing a pitcher to depart mid-inning if his pitch count gets high and then re-enter the game the following inning.

So, Williams started the sixth. He again didn’t finish it, pulled after facing four batters and allowing another run to score. In came Derek Law, who recorded the final out of the inning.

And when the sixth was over? Williams trotted out to the right field bullpen, where he threw another 20 pitches to finally get himself up to his predetermined total for the day. That meant he technically pitched for parts of seven innings, though he was credited with only five official innings in the game.

“That’s a tremendous rule change for us in spring training,” he said. “Because we used to not be able to do that, and we were trying to get to 90 pitches, and (the relievers) needed to throw. So it was good.”

Williams’ final line (five runs, eight hits) didn’t look so good. But he insisted his only real priority today was building up his pitch count, and that he was being more aggressive throwing strikes in those final two innings, with the Twins hitters taking advantage and swinging at more pitches.

Whatever the case, the 31-year-old closes out the Florida portion of his spring with a 7.20 ERA and 1.600 WHIP in four starts. Those aren’t the kind of numbers you’d think would win him the final spot in the Opening Day rotation, but his competition (Zach Davies) also struggled to the tune of a 9.00 ERA and 1.929 WHIP in his four starts.

The Nationals haven’t made any decisions yet. Williams suggested he expects to pitch again in Tuesday’s exhibition finale in D.C., while Davies suggested his start Wednesday night represented his final opportunity.

“I feel like you’re always competing for a spot, even if you’ve been here for 10 years,” Williams said when asked about his approach this spring. “I think there’s always competition for your spot. There are certain things I went into this offseason wanting to work on and get better. I think we were able to do that.”

* Kyle Finnegan finally returned to the mound after a nine-day layoff due to lower back tightness. Then the Nats closer gave his team a scare when he took a sharp comebacker off his right foot in the top of the seventh.

The ball made a loud thud when it struck Finnegan, deflected a good 20 feet toward third base. The training staff rushed out to check on the right-hander, but Finnegan immediately waved them off and insisted he was fine because the ball struck the padded portion of the heel of his right shoe, completely absorbing the impact.

“In the moment, you don’t even know what’s going on,” he said. “The first thing I recognized was the crowd: ‘Ooohh!’ Am I good, or what’s going on here? I feel fine. You take a second and kind of assess, and I felt like I was fine.”

Finnegan remained on the mound and wound up throwing 25 pitches, allowing two more singles after the comebacker and then a final batter to reach on an error by second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. He was pleased with his physical state at the end of the outing and said he’s likely to appear in one more game Saturday to wrap up his spring.

“Physically I felt great,” Finnegan said. “I would’ve argued to keep going, finish my inning. But 25 is a good place to land. I was excited to get back out there and come out of it feeling good. That was the most pitches I threw all spring. To feel good after that, after the layoff, is positive.”