Despite another solid start from Josiah Gray, the young right-hander took his fourth-straight loss, as in his fourth-straight start the Washington bats failed to provide any run support. But Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo likes what he is seeing from Gray given the tough circumstances.
"It's very frustrating for him, he's handling it like a champ, on the bright side of it," Rizzo said during his weekly appearance with 106.7 The Fan's The Sports Junkies, which is presented exclusively by our partners at MainStreet Bank — Cheer Local. Bank Local. Put Our Team in Your Office.
Gray, allowed one run on four hits over five innings against the Orioles, but the Nats were held scoreless in Baltimore's 1-0 win. Despite allowing just four earned runs over his last three outings, the 25-year-old took his third-straight loss because the Nationals have been shut out in all of those games. Through the bad luck, Rizzo sees positives.
"He's throwing the ball extremely well," he told The Junkies. "You can see the ascension from what he did last year to this year. I think he built up last year to making consistent starts and taking the ball every five days, you know, he got bounced around a little bit, he probably walked too many guys last year, definitely, and gave up too many homers.
"He attacked it in the offseason and I think you're seeing some of the results of it. Earlier on he's keeping the ball in the ballpark for the most part and doing a better job of pounding the strike zone. I think he'd tell you he'd like to walk less guys still, and that's a work in progress for him."
Through his first 21.2 innings this season, Gray has posted a 3.74 ERA (5.76 FIP) with a 1.477 WHIP with 16 strikeouts and nine walks and allowing four home runs. A season ago, he issued 66 free passes (tops in the NL) and allowed 38 round-trippers (tops in all of MLB) in 148.2 innings.
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"The stuff is there, he and [Nats pitching coach] Jim Hickey developed a cut fastball, that can kind of handle left-handed batters better, I think that's a good pitch for him," Rizzo added. "Young kid with a good repertoire really competes on the mound and unfortunate that he hasn't gotten any run support."
On Wednesday night against the Orioles, the Nationals will start another young pitcher, left-hander MacKenzie Gore.
"We're looking for him to pound the strike zone more, he's a guy with really, really good stuff," Rizzo said of Gore. "Pound the strike zone, be aggressive in pitcher's counts and just attack the hitter with his good stuff. He's got the mid-90s fastball and a couple of breaking pitches that are really, really good for him. He's a very competitive guy, a very aggressive guy on the mound and we just want him to be aggressive in the strike zone and pound the zone."
Gore is off to a 2-0 start allowing five runs over 15 innings with 10 walks and 18 strikeouts and 1.467 WHIP.
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