Nats, Martinez will keep watchful eye on Corbin in first start

Thanks to a simulated game thrown Wednesday at the alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va., left-hander Patrick Corbin won't be on a short leash tonight when he makes his first start of the season against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

"We'll keep close eyes on him, but the last time he threw in a sim game in Fredericksburg, he threw 45 pitches, he went three innings," Nationals manager Davey Martinez said in his pregame Zoom with reporters. "So we're hoping to get maybe five innings, 75 pitches from him."

Corbin was one of nine players placed on the COVID-19 injured list before the season with either a positive test or a close contact with an infected individual. He's getting a late start to the campaign, though because the Nats' first series with the Mets was postponed over concerns with the virus, he's starting in the team's fifth game of the season.

He rejoined the Nationals on Friday, taking a charter flight to Los Angeles.

The southpaw came to spring camp with one thing in mind: erasing the disappointment of a subpar 2020 season that saw him go 2-7 with a 4.66 ERA (his highest mark since a 5.15 ERA in 2015 with Arizona) and a career-worst 1.569 WHIP. He led the National League with 85 hits allowed in 65 2/3 innings.

While acknowledging that last year's numbers weren't what Corbin - or the Nats - wanted, Martinez has seen some hints of improvement. In four appearances, three of them starts, during spring training, Corbin went 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.263 WHIP, with seven walks and nine strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings.

"I actually think that he got going (in spring)" Martinez said. "Last year was tough for him to get going. We had an abbreviated spring and (spring training) 2.0 and he couldn't quite get himself going. This year, his slider looks a little sharper again in spring training. He mixed in some changeups and his fastball was a lot better this spring training than it was last year coming in. So we expect him to go out there and be the Patrick that he was in previous years."

But given his delayed start to the season, Martinez will watch Corbin closely. The skipper is not about to push the envelope in the lefty's initial regular season start.

"We know we got to keep an eye on him," Martinez said. "He's missed some time. I talked to him yesterday and he said he felt really good. So we'll see what happens today."

* Right-hander Will Harris, on the 10-day injured list with right hand inflammation, has progressed to throwing long toss at the alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Martinez said.

Next up for the veteran reliever: throwing off a mound.

"He threw the other day, he was playing long toss.," Martinez said. "So as soon as he's ready, we'll get him back on the mound. ... We haven't gotten him off a mound yet. We got to build him back up. He missed so much time. For us, it's almost like getting ready for spring training."