Patrick Corbin Consternation Thread

[welch]

The question is: Can he return to his old form, missing more bats, or is his only hope to induce more weak contact and trust his defense to make plays?

“I think he can do a little bit of both,” manager Davey Martinez said. “If the spin on his slider comes back to what we think it can be, yeah he can strike guys out. But early contact with him … as we all know, they swing a lot. So those first couple pitches (of an at-bat) are important to him. And mostly keeping the ball down. When he gets the ball up, that’s when he got in trouble on his first pitches. So he’s got to work down in the zone.”

Along those lines, Corbin believes he has made a mechanical tweak that will help. He believes he allowed his arm slot to rise too high beginning in 2020, leading to less tilt on his trademark slider, which opponents crushed last season to the tune of a .309 batting average and .571 slugging percentage.

With his arm slot a bit lower now, he hopes he can get more whiffs off that slider, which opponents hit just .158 and slugged just .266 against in 2019.

“I thought at times it was good, and at times not so much,” Corbin said of his arm slot last season. “So I feel just repeating the delivery, trying to keep that arm slot the same and keeping the ball down, I think will be some keys for me.”

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/excited-corbin-has-something-to-prove

[Slateman]

Corbin turns 34 this season. This was about the time we were expecting decline. So the idea that he is going to improve is silly.

Like I said, move him to the pen.

[imref]

if it's spring training, it's time for another "can Corbin straighten himself out" story. This is the third year of these stories IIRC?

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

The contract is a sunk cost and he still shows up for work...shrug, glass half full

[imref]

The contract is a sunk cost and he still shows up for work...shrug, glass half full

Saving the arms of others by taking up a rotation spot. Very altruistic

[aspenbubba]

Well , whatever modifications to his delivery hasn't worked very well for this POS. Gave up 2 HR's in 1.2 innings and 4 hits. Just hang the freakin bum from the So Cap St Bridge as a motivator for our otherwise talented SP. I'm speaking to you Gray.

[welch]

Put him in the bullpen. If Corbin can't pitch in relief, use him as a coach. Just do not let him start a regular season game. The money is spent, so there is nothing gained by having him pitch, nothing except losses.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I don't really think the front office cares about wins and losses this year.

Also, Corbin is probably going to suck again, but it's beyond silly to look at anyone's first ST start and jump to any conclusions.

[imref]

I don't really think the front office cares about wins and losses this year.

nope. They care about player development, but still it would be nice to have a starter who can go 5-6 innings on a regular basis so as not to destroy the bullpen.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

nope. They care about player development, but still it would be nice to have a starter who can go 5-6 innings on a regular basis so as not to destroy the bullpen.

I doubt they care about that, either.  If this team is on a timeline to contend again around 2025-26 (and that's probably being optimistic), then the bullpen is probably going to be dramatically different by then.  MLB teams turn over their bullpens like "onlyfans content creators" change underwear.

Not trying to defend Corbin here--just saying that none of this really matters.

[IanRubbish]

Put him in the bullpen. If Corbin can't pitch in relief, use him as a coach. Just do not let him start a regular season game. The money is spent, so there is nothing gained by having him pitch, nothing except losses.

Makes sense to put him in the pen.  He averaged less than 5 innings per start last year, so he became an unintentional "opener".  But he is at least good about staying healthy and this bullpen is going to take a beating unless they do something creative.

[Natsinpwc]

If Corbin is actually blocking someone good that’s fair to put him in the pen. Otherwise you let him start. He never seems to get hurt which is both good and bad. Who is he blocking from the starting rotation now that would really be much better? 

[welch]

If the goal is to lose games, then start Corbin. Would that help the Nats to draft higher in 2024?

[Natsinpwc]

The two logical guys to take his place would be Espino and Abbott.  The former had an ERA of almost 5 and the latter was 5.25. So you are probably talking about one or two more wins over the course of a year. Cavalli and Gore are both coming off arm issues and probably have innings limits. So you need at least 7 starters over the course of a year even if the other arms stay healthy.  Would be nice to see the team approach .500 but they did not get any power bats in the off-season so that’s a dream anyway. Just hope Corbin pitches well and some foolish team agrees to trade for him.

[Smithian]

The value of Corbin would be if he could post a 6 ERA over 6 innings. Last season, he averaged just under 5 IP a start. The season before he was just over 5 and a half, which was acceptable. 2022 Corbin burns the bullpen and forces the team to adjust plans around him.

It felt like a year ago the Nationals had a bunch of young arms ready to be tested out. Feels like half of them blew their arms out, so now having Corbin start 30+ games has value. It isn't like there is even a D-list prospect waiting to take his place.

[welch]

I don't really think the front office cares about wins and losses this year.

Also, Corbin is probably going to suck again, but it's beyond silly to look at anyone's first ST start and jump to any conclusions.

The organization probably does not hope to win the NL East this season, but that does not mean the Nats are playing to lose. Corbin has been a sure-fire loser ever since Game 7, 2019.

[Slateman]

The organization probably does not hope to win the NL East this season, but that does not mean the Nats are playing to lose. Corbin has been a sure-fire loser ever since Game 7, 2019.

They're also not playing to win. Player development is the goal of this season.

[aspenbubba]

I don't really think the front office cares about wins and losses this year.

Also, Corbin is probably going to suck again, but it's beyond silly to look at anyone's first ST start and jump to any conclusions.

Not silly when he repeats a pattern from the past 3 freakin years. This is not an anomolie!

[Elvir Ovcina]

Not silly when he repeats a pattern from the past 3 freakin years. This is not an anomolie!

A what?

[aspenbubba]

A what?

I probably spelled it wrong but " a one off" is a good enough translation.

[Slateman]

[Natsinpwc]

Chalk that one up as a Curly W.

[Smithian]

What a disaster of a season

[IanRubbish]

What a disaster of a season

I was reading how Grant and Danny on 106.7 The Fan went off on the Nats for this kind of "ceremonial" move.  I thought having Corbin start opening day was because of his contract, but I like the idea of letting the younger guys start out on a quieter day.

[imref]

Corbin gets his final ST start today. Hopefully he continues to pitch well.