Long list of injured pitchers grows with addition of Patrick Corbin

ATLANTA - Cade Cavalli, Sean Doolittle, Stephen Strasburg, Tanner Rainey, Jackson Tetreault, Evan Lee…

Patrick Corbin.

The list of injured Nationals pitchers contains rookies and veterans. It has consumed righties and lefties alike. It seems to grow by the week.

After Corbin exited Tuesday’s game with back spasms, an already lean Nats rotation thinned even more, leaving Josiah Gray, Erick Fedde and Anibal Sanchez as the only bona fide starters. 

Perhaps you could throw Cory Abbott in the mix. Paolo Espino lurks.

There are only 14 games and 126 innings, give or take, remaining in the regular season for a battered Nats staff to cover, and help could be coming in the form of the rehabbing MacKenzie Gore. The 23-year-old, acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto/Josh Bell trade, has been pitching for Triple-A Rochester in the hopes of making his Nationals debut before the end of the year.

Even if Gore comes up and provides the team with some much-needed innings, the final two weeks of the season could prove especially difficult for manager Davey Martinez, who has seen his offense score just five total runs over the last three games. 

As difficult as 2022 has been for Corbin, things had been trending up over the last month. The lefty had allowed two or fewer runs in four of his last five starts prior to last night's all-too-brief outing. At 32 years old, Corbin has also been durable, leading the staff in innings pitched (148) and starts (30).

“I’ve been feeling really good,” said Corbin. “So it just stinks for this to happen. Not sure what I could’ve done differently.” 

Meanwhile, both Gray and Fedde have run into rough patches. Gray has a 9.45 ERA over his last three starts, while Fedde’s is 7.71 over his last four. 

Sanchez has been surprisingly dependable, posting a 1.53 ERA over his last six outings.

Espino will start this afternoon’s series finale against the Braves, who face injury issues of their own. Rookie righty Spencer Strider was scratched with a sore oblique, prompting Atlanta to turn to another 23-year-old, Bryce Elder, for Wednesday’s game.