Struggling Voth still searching for answers

Austin Voth earned a spot in the Nationals' opening day rotation based on the major step forward he took in 2019, when increased velocity, improved command and renewed confidence came together to make the rookie right-hander look like a part of the organization's long-term plan.

Four starts into his 2020 campaign, Voth finds himself searching to gain all of that back. And soon.

"Definitely the last couple starts just haven't felt confident on the mound," he said during his Zoom session with reporters following another disappointing start Tuesday night in Atlanta. "Just battling to kind of get through."

That's never what any manager wants to hear from a pitcher, but it's reflective of the current state of Voth's pitching. His fastball doesn't have life on it, he's slogging his way through long at-bats and he's been unable to even reach the sixth inning once this season.

Tuesday's start was the latest example. In only four innings of work, Voth put 11 Braves runners on base. Forced to pitch out of the stretch almost the entire night, he kept the damage to a minimum through his first two innings but couldn't do it in the third or fourth and wound up departing with five runs and nine hits to his name.

Voth's fastball velocity is down a bit, from an average of 92.7 last season to 91.6 mph this season. But that's not his biggest concern. He's more troubled by the way he feels, especially the farther along he gets in a start.

"Physically, I feel fine," he said. "Mechanically, I'm just searching right now. There are a couple things that I need to tweak, because I'm not executing my pitches right now. It's just hurting me. I'm having to work harder and I'm racking up my pitch count and not able to go deeper in games, and it's hurting my bullpen as well."

With only 18 total innings thrown in four starts, Voth is creating extra strain on the Nationals' relief corps, which Tuesday night needed seven pitchers to combine for five scoreless innings in the 8-5 win over the Braves.

He told manager Davey Martinez he feels like he's not putting anything into his pitches.

"That's exactly what I'm seeing," Martinez said. "He's not using his legs like he has in the past. ... He's got good stuff. And I told him: 'We want you to go out there and pitch six innings, but I want you to go out there and feel comfortable about yourself throwing the strikes you're capable of throwing. And then get deeper in games. But we need you to get through six innings. 'Cause the rate we're going, our bullpen is getting taxed already.'"

Staff ace Max Scherzer has made some recommendations, and Voth hopes to implement them during his between-starts throwing sessions. Then he hopes it will actually translate into better results the next time he takes the mound.

"It's definitely tough, because you don't want to overuse your arm, throwing-wise," he said. "Definitely there's a small time period before my next start, so I kind of have to nail ... try to figure out things real quick and get ready for my next start. It's going to be tough."