I remember when Patrick Corbin came up, he was designated as the third or fourth guy in the rotation, as Ian Kennedy and Daniel Hudson were there. And as the D-Backs got people like Robbie Ray and Zack Greinke, he...continued to be the strong third man.
...until last year, where he jumped those two and became the strong ace of the damn rotation. And upon finally becoming a top man on a team that already has Zack Greinke, he...left for Washington.
...a team that already has two aces. So...Corbin makes three?
Honestly, that's the most you can say about the Nationals this time. They have the single most powerful three-headed-monster rotation in baseball. I cannot name a more consistently deadly top 3 starters on a roster right now than Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. All three are insanely deadly strikeout artists...and all three are absolutely on right now. All three have over 55 strikeouts, ERAs under 3.65, and WHIPs under 1.150. Only one of these three has a Cy Young, but they're all playing like they're defending a title.
That's basically all the Nats have, though. Rendon's doing his usual stuff, but he's kind of alone. Howie Kendrick was doing well for a while, but his numbers have dropped off. Even Juan Soto looks surprisingly pedestrian so far. It's not even a 'without Harper' thing; the prioritizations of this team have led to a very limp lineup and a very strong rotation. Which means...even if these three are among the best pitchers in the NL, they're not getting run support.
It's not a complete success for these three. But...considering that Patrick Corbin just had his 2nd 10-strikeout game of the year so far...maybe they don't need a good team to have a great pitching year.
Coming Tonight: A surefire Hall of Famer just putting the icing on the cake in Detroit.
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