Jake Irvin makes a strong first impression as Nationals hold off Cubs
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If Jake Irvin was feeling nervous before his major league debut Wednesday night at Nationals Park, he did well to hide it. He walked into the Washington clubhouse with a slight grin and made it a point to greet reporters. He even had extended conversations with a few by his locker — a rarity for a pitcher on the day he starts.
Irvin took a photo of his locker in one of the few moments when he truly looked like a rookie. Another came when he plunked the Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner on the shoulder with his first pitch; the ball nearly hit Hoerner in the head.
“I can’t imagine many other guys have plunked the first guy, first pitch in their debut,” Irvin said. “Just laugh it off, man. Next hitter.”
But after that, the calm Irvin showed in the clubhouse was present on the mound. He allowed one run and two hits over 4⅓ innings of the Nationals’ 2-1 victory, his line stained only by four walks. CJ Abrams provided the go-ahead hit for the second straight night with an RBI single in the seventh.
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“This is something that you dream of since the day you pick up a baseball,” Irvin said. “I’m on top of the world, and props to the team, man. Guys played great behind me, and Keibert [Ruiz] called a fantastic game.”
Irvin, 26, is by no means the Nationals’ top pitching prospect. In fact, he’s behind hurlers such as Jarlin Susana, Jake Bennett, Cole Henry and Jackson Rutledge. But the Nationals have seen enough from Irvin, a fourth-round draft pick in 2018, that they were willing to put him on the 40-man roster this offseason to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
And they deemed him good enough to recall for Wednesday night’s game despite having other options to fill in for Chad Kuhl, who went on the injured list Monday with right foot metatarsalgia. Irvin had posted a 5.64 ERA in five starts at Class AAA Rochester, but Manager Dave Martinez said his most recent outing for the Red Wings was his best.
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Martinez wanted Irvin to attack the strike zone with fastballs to set up his secondary pitches. Irvin was a bit erratic in the opening inning, though. After hitting Hoerner, he walked Ian Happ and allowed a two-out single to Seiya Suzuki that put the Nationals (12-18) in a 1-0 hole.
“Awesome,” Martinez said of Irvin’s outing. “After that first inning, I sat back and I said: ‘Well, you covered all the bases. You hit a guy. You walked a guy. The guy scored. So now you’re loose and go throw strikes.’ And he handled it really well.”
Washington tied it in the second when Dominic Smith grounded into a double play with runners on the corners.
Irvin settled in as the game progressed, looking much more comfortable attacking with his fastball. He also mixed in a curveball away to right-handers and located his change-up effectively. He even turned to his sinker 11 times; he returned the pitch to his arsenal this season after being advised not to throw it last year coming off Tommy John surgery in 2020. He missed the entire 2021 season.
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Irvin faced one batter over the minimum from the second through the fourth. He ran into trouble in the fifth, walking two Cubs (15-15) as he struggled to command his curveball.
Martinez pulled him for Andrés Machado, who got Dansby Swanson to ground into a double play on his first pitch. Machado, Carl Edwards Jr., Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan covered the remaining 12 outs.
Finnegan earned his seventh save after allowing back-to-back singles to open the ninth. A bunt put runners on the corners, then Finnegan induced a grounder from Patrick Wisdom that the Nationals turned into a game-ending double play.
It’s unclear how long Irvin will be here — his tenure could depend on Kuhl’s health. But in his one chance to make a strong first impression, he did just that.
And as he walked off the mound in the fifth, he looked toward the stands and patted his glove toward his family with the same smile he had sported when he walked into the stadium a few hours earlier.
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“There’s been a lot of bumps and bruises along the way, and it just feels great,” he said. “… Every single guy in the locker room can tell you the same thing: Getting here is no easy task. You can only debut once, so it’s pretty awesome.”
Notes: In addition to optioning reliever Cory Abbott to Rochester to make room for Irvin, the Nationals sent infielder Jeter Downs to Rochester and activated infielder Ildemaro Vargas, who had been on the injured list since April 10 with a left shoulder strain. Vargas will resume his role as the backup infielder, and Downs will get more playing time with the Red Wings. …
The Nationals also signed righty José Ureña, who was released by the Colorado Rockies last week, to a minor league deal. He will report to Rochester. Ureña, 31, faced the Nationals on April 7 in Denver and allowed six runs (four earned) in 2⅔ innings.
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Source: The Washington Post
