For better or worse, Corbin will always be remembered in D.C.

When Patrick Corbin signed a six-year, $140 million contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018, it was praised as yet another massive free agent signing to reinforce one of the best starting rotations in baseball.

The left-hander, who chose to sign with the Nats over a Yankees team he grew up rooting for, joined Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Aníbal Sánchez in Washington’s rotation after going 11-7 with a 3.15 ERA, 1.050 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in an All-Star season in Arizona.

His first year in a Curly W cap was everything he and the Nats could have hoped for. He finished 14-7 with a 3.25 ERA and some National League Cy Young Award votes before becoming a postseason hero while helping the Nats win their first World Series championship by being credited as the winning pitcher of Game 7 of the Fall Classic.

But after making his first career appearances in October (five of them coming out of the bullpen), Corbin’s career in D.C. took an unexpected turn for the worse.

Starting with the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Corbin statistically became one of the worst pitchers in the major leagues over the next five years of his contract.

The results in 2020 (2-7, 4.66 ERA, 1.569 WHIP and a major league-worst 85 hits allowed in 11 starts) could have been chalked up to his first postseason appearances, his unusual schedule of starting and relieving during the deep run, and the unusual circumstances surrounding the season affected by COVID-19.

But his struggles continued, and in fact worsened, over the last four years of his contract.

As the performances on the mound continuously failed to live up to the standards of his deal (which also made him one of the highest paid players on the team), fans grew restless. Could the Nats send him permanently to the bullpen? Could they find a willing trade partner? Could they just release him altogether?

None of those came to fruition as Corbin continued to make his scheduled starts in the rotation every five days.

After what is likely his last appearance as a National on Thursday, the numbers are staggering. Corbin finished his six seasons with the Nationals 47-77 with a 5.11 ERA (538 earned runs in 946 ⅓ innings), 1074 hits, 308 walks, 832 strikeouts, 156 home runs and a 1.460 WHIP in 170 starts.

But therein lies what is admirable about Corbin. Regardless of what his stats said, he was ready to pitch. He did his job and set an example for an increasingly young team. And he’s still a World Series champion.

“This last six years have gone by fairly quickly looking back now,” Corbin said after his start yesterday. “But I enjoyed every second of it. I don't regret anything. I enjoyed my time here. And obviously to win a World Series, start a family and get to meet all you guys, it was great. I really enjoyed it all. I got to meet a lot of people. Probably these next couple of days, maybe say some goodbyes to people that I haven't really got to talk to as much. But like I said, I wouldn't take anything back. It's been great. Learned a lot. Highs and lows. But I loved every second of it.”

There are some other positives to take away from Corbin’s time in Washington. His 1,078 strikeouts since 2018 rank second among all major league left-handed pitchers. And he is the only major league pitcher to start at least 30 games in each of the last seven full seasons (2017-19, 2021-24).

“I didn't think of it too much,” he said. “You just try to prepare, you come up with a routine and try to be as consistent with that routine. There's a lot of ups and downs in baseball, and you try to learn from those. You want to be accountable and take the ball. And that's our job. Try to go out there, lead by example, be a good teammate, things like that.”

“We don't win a World Series without him, as we all know,” said manager Davey Martinez. “But if you look at him and what he's done here, the guy took the ball every five days for the last six years. I mean, it was every five days. That's pretty incredible. And I know, he would have loved to win more games, but I can tell you right now, he's a guy that you can count on. He actually threw the ball well a lot of times.

“Like I said, he kept us in the game. If we get a couple of more hits for him, a couple of more runs, things would have been different. Sometimes we didn't play great defense behind him, so that didn't help matters. But he's a competitor. He's unbelievable. And I'm really proud of him, because there have been a lot of guys out there that have gone through what he went through and probably would have shut it down. He didn't. Every five days, he got the ball and he was out there. So I’m very proud of him. And whatever happens, I enjoyed my time with him. I know we'll always stay close. His family is amazing. So I'm so happy that I was able to be a part of his career.”

Corbin’s legacy in D.C. doesn’t stop on the field. In fact, it will probably be defined more by what he did off it.

As one of the highest-paid players, he often treated the rest of the team. Get-togethers and team dinners on the road were organized by Corbin. The clubhouse at Nationals Park now has a ping pong, an artificial putting green and a PutterBall set, all paid for by Corbin.

Outside of the clubhouse, Corbin was active in the local community up until his last week as a Nationals. On Monday, he and his family visited the Nationals Youth Baseball Academy to make a donation that will help support the cost of year-round programming for more than 400 children. To honor their generosity, a scoreboard at one of the academy’s fields was dedicated in their name.

“I would say that he is the most generous person I've ever met in my life. I think I can safely say that,” said Kyle Finnegan, who has been Corbin’s teammate since 2020. “What he does in this clubhouse, bringing his teammates together, he's always the first to put a dinner together or team events and things like that. He shows you and your teammates that this game is meant to be fun. And regardless of what happens on the field, good or bad, we're in this together. It's a season-long grind, and you gotta have fun with it and enjoy it, because that's the only way to make it.”

“Corbin is always trying to help us on and off the field,” said Luis García Jr., also Corbin’s teammate since 2020. “He's always positive, regardless of the results when he goes out there and performs. He's the same guy. He's always trying to give us any assistance he can. And that's what it means to be a good leader.”

If this is it for Corbin in a Nationals uniform, he leaves a young team that hopes to accomplish what he did in his first season in Washington: Winning a World Series championship. As Corbin knows by now, that’s a moment that sticks with you forever.

“I think the World Series, obviously, is something that every player wants to be a part of and experience,” he said. “And only one team gets to do that every year. So hopefully in the near future, it can happen to these guys here and they can experience that, because that's something you'll never forget.”

Corbin has spent much time yet reflecting on his time with the Nationals. There was still one last start to post up for. But now that it has likely come to an end, he’ll give it more thought in the coming days. And over the last three days of the season, he may start saying his goodbyes.

“Like I said, half of my career I've been here. I've been here a long time,” he said. “A lot of people have come through. But I think I'll really think about it a little bit more this offseason when, when I'm possibly not coming back or going to a different clubhouse, something I haven't done in six years. But yeah, I enjoyed every second of it. And like I said, a lot of good people have come and gone through here, and I've got to be a part of that. So I'll always remember that.”

What the future holds for him, Corbin isn’t sure. He knows he still feels able to pitch, but he has months before next year’s spring training starts to figure out where. In the meantime, his focus will be on his growing family that has called D.C. home for the past six years.

“I'm not sure. I'm kind of excited to see what happens,” he said. “We have another baby on the way, so that's going to be awesome. But I think good times are ahead. I still feel good and capable to go out there and pitch. So I'm excited for it and we'll see what happens.”

The stats will be talked about in the years to come. His place in the record books for the wrong reasons will be pointed to. But any Nationals fan that celebrates the 2019 title has to celebrate Corbin, too.