On a wet night at Nats Park, Mitchell Parker's struggles continue

Washington Post

14 hours ago

At 8:16 p.m. on Friday night, the skies opened and a rain delay began at Nationals Park. At the time, the Nationals trailed the Marlins, 6-2, with two outs in the bottom of the fourth — and, save for a 451-foot home run James Wood, it didn't look pretty.
With 12 games left before their next day off, Manager Dave Martinez let left-hander Mitchell Parker sweat it out for as long as he could. That turned out to be 87 pitches across 3⅓ innings in which Parker was charged with six earned runs, eight hits and three walks to go with three strikeouts. After starting the season looking like an ace, Parker has allowed 36 earned runs over his past 42 innings for a 7.71 ERA.
So how, exactly, has this happened?
For one, hitters have jumped on Parker early in his starts. The solo homer he conceded to Agustín Ramírez in the first was the 16th first-inning earned run he has allowed, tied for the most in the majors. In the top of the third, he allowed another solo shot to Ramírez, a 447-foot blast so certain off the bat that Wood only took one step back in left field before spinning back toward the diamond. The home fans booed. Before Parker could record another out in the third, the Marlins had a 6-0 lead.
Those two pitches to Ramírez — a low fastball and a middle-middle splitter — were anomalies. The Marlins did the bulk of their damage on fastballs up in the zone.
For as good as that pitch looked for Parker early this season, his reliance on it has made it a significant data point on opposing scouting reports. Because Parker throws from such a high arm slot, the pitch is supposed to look like it rises up in the zone. But Parker has thrown the pitch at least 50 percent of the time in 10 straight starts.
And for a pitcher like Parker — who ranks 67th of 78 qualified starters by Stuff+, a metric from FanGraphs that judges the nastiness of a pitcher's arsenal — any sort of predictability can snowball. That, coupled with a strikeout rate and walk rate that have both gone in the wrong direction, leaves Parker with a 4.84 ERA.
If the frustration is showing for Parker, he is at least trying to hide it. On the left-hander's final walk back to the dugout Friday night, he dropped his head and covered his lips with the top of his jersey, concealing whatever words he had for himself.
Notes: Reliever Derek Law (forearm) will likely throw one more simulated game against Nationals hitters on Saturday, Martinez said. If that goes well, then he is likely to head out for a rehab assignment. He has not pitched in a game for Washington this year. ...
Third baseman Paul DeJong (nose) will see a doctor Saturday before being cleared to goon a rehab assignment. He has not played since he was hit in the face with a pitch in mid-April. ...
Reliever Mason Thompson (Tommy John surgery) has been pitching in the Florida Complex League and is expected to begin a rehab assignment at a higher-level affiliate after one more appearance. ...
Outfielder Dylan Crews (oblique) is still not participating in baseball activities. He has been out since May 20.