Before the 2019 season, the Washington Nationals signed free agent pitcher Patrick Corbin to a six-year, $140 million contract.
He was coming off two very good seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and was famous around the league for having several sliders by velocity and shape.
The first year in the nation’s capital was a success: he had a rock-solid 3.25 ERA and won the World Series with the Nats.
Everything went downhill since then.
He had a 4.66 ERA in 2020 and showed diminished velocity: not to worry, everybody chalked it up to the short season and the insufficient sample size.
Then 2021 came, and he finished with a 5.82 ERA in 171.2 innings.
Ok, everybody was concerned at this point.
After that, the first half of 2022 came, and Corbin has been worse than ever: he has a 6.49 ERA in 105.1 frames.
He is, statistically, one of the worst pitchers in the majors.
Corbin Is A Problem For The Nationals
At this point, the Nationals don’t know what to do with him.
He had another horrific game on Wednesday.
“Here comes Dave Martinez to pull Patrick Corbin. He faced 10 batters in the first inning and allowed six runs on six hits. Forty-five total pitches. Erasmo Ramírez is going to wear at least some of this,” Nationals reporter Jesse Dougherty wrote on Twitter.
Here comes Dave Martinez to pull Patrick Corbin. He faced 10 batters in the first inning and allowed six runs on six hits. Forty-five total pitches. Erasmo Ramírez is going to wear at least some of this.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) July 27, 2022
There was talk that the Nationals were willing to “soften” their hypothetical prospects return for Soto by including Corbin’s lousy contract on the trade, but general manager Mike Rizzo dismissed that idea.
No one will take Corbin’s contract without an incentive, so the most likely scenario has the pitcher finishing out the season with a Nationals uniform.
Once a promising free agent signing, Corbin is now a major problem for a rebuilding franchise.
NEXT: Nationals GM Comments On The Juan Soto Leak