Jake Irvin’s return came with a little bit of symmetry and a lot of efficiency.
Two months after leaving a start at Truist Park with shoulder tightness - a game in which he had thrown five no-hit innings before an MRI showed a right shoulder strain - Irvin was back on the mound in the same ballpark Thursday and back in the Nationals’ rotation after missing 56 games.
And for most of the night, he looked like the same pitcher who had been rolling before the injury.
Irvin needed just 61 pitches to get through five-plus innings against the Braves in Atlanta, breezing through his first three frames on 23 pitches total. He used only six pitches in the third, a sign that the changeup and cutter work he focused on during rehab was paying off.
“The more you can keep guys off-balance, I think the better,” Irvin said. “I was trying to do my best to do that.”
He did not allow a baserunner until the second batter of the fourth inning, and he was one out away from finishing five innings on fewer than 60 pitches before the game turned. James Wood got a late jump on a Dominic Smith line drive to right field, and Mike Yastrzemski followed with a two-run homer in the next at-bat.
That sequence helped push the Nationals into a 3-3 tie and brought Irvin back out for the sixth inning, with the club having set a target of 75 pitches after he threw 63 in his final rehab start last Friday with Double-A Harrisburg.
Manager Blake Butera liked what he saw for most of the outing.
“It was pretty amazing how quickly he got through those first few innings and on such a low pitch count,” Butera told reporters.
Irvin’s night ended after back-to-back walks to Drake Baldwin and Ronald Acuña Jr. prompted Butera to go to lefty Carson Palmquist. Irvin allowed five runs on three hits and two walks while striking out one.
“He was in the zone a ton until that sixth inning,” said Butera. “And that was also the first time he's had a sixth up since he's gone down [to a Minor League rehab assignment].
… We felt like he was in a spot to go back out there in the sixth. But once he let those first two guys get on, we wanted him out of there just in case there was any fatigue or anything.”
Butera also checked on Irvin’s health when he came to the mound for the change.
“I felt good [after five innings],” Irvin said. “Just need to execute a heck of a lot better there in the sixth inning.”
The Braves did their damage late, including Acuña’s first home run since returning from the IL on Monday. He lifted a sinker from Irvin a Statcast-projected 421 feet.
For Irvin, though, the bigger picture is bigger than one rough inning. His return gives the Nationals another look at their rotation with just four days left before Monday’s 6 p.m.
ET Trade Deadline. Left-hander Foster Griffin is drawing trade buzz, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reported Thursday that a contract extension between the Nationals and Griffin is unlikely.
“It’s fun,” said Irvin. “We're playing competitive baseball, and that's what it's all about this time of year.”
Irvin’s next start is not scheduled until after the Trade Deadline, which means the Nationals may be operating with a different-looking roster by then. His message, though, stays the same.
“It’s just staying in your process,” Irvin said. “It's so important to just continue to be who you are.
The game is no different, and I think pressure is an obstacle if you make it one. But the reality is, pressure is abstract, and we're out here just staying in ballgames and trying to go pitch to pitch.”
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Nationals Rotation Decision Just Raised The Stakes In The Wild Card Race
The Nationals are getting a rotation piece back at a time when every series feels a little heavier in the Wild Card chase. Jake Irvin is being activated from the 60-day injured list and will take the ball in the opener in Atlanta, a notable step after he spent just over two months sidelined by a shoulder strain and worked his way through two rehab outings with Double-A Harrisburg.
Irvins return also tightens the roster picture in Washington, with the club optioning reliever Paxton Schultz to make room and leaving the 40-man full. It comes with the rotation still sorting itself out behind Foster Griffin, Cade Cavalli, Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas, and with Griffins status as a possible trade chip hanging over the group as the deadline picture continues to take shape. [Read more 🡒]