Washington Nationals news & notes: Nats take 3 of 4 in Atlanta with 3-1 win over Braves…

Notes and quotes from the Nationals and Braves’ series finale in Atlanta’s Truist Park…

WILLIAMS GOES 5 ²⁄₃ IN ATL:

Trevor Williams struck out eight in five innings of work against Seattle’s Mariners last week in the nation’s capital, and was at just 85 pitches overall after giving up a leadoff double in the top of the sixth inning when manager Davey Martinez went to the bullpen.

Martinez talked before the game about his established pattern of limiting Williams, the 32-year-old starter to 80-ish pitches. And no Williams is not always okay with the quick hooks.

“He pushes me,” Martinez acknowledged.

“He always wants to stay in the game, never wants to come out, that’s for sure. But I got to be really smart. For me this really his second year of starting, per se. He’s been in the bullpen for a while, so I want him to make sure that he can start 30 games for us, or 20 games, whatever the case may be. This is one way of doing it. There’s going to be times where he’s going to have to eat it a little bit. But right now he’s doing really well, and we’re trying to manage everything for him.”

After a couple years as a swing man in New York, Williams made 30 starts on the year in 2023, posting a 5.55 ERA, a 5.99 FIP, 53 walks (3.30 BB/9), and 111 Ks (6.92 K/9) in 144 1⁄3 innings pitched over which he gave up an NL-leading 34 home runs (2.12 HR/9) and put up a .300/.359/.533 line against, in the first year of his 2-year/$13M deal in D.C.

Through 10 starts this season, Martinez’s careful handling, and the work Williams put in over the winter and in Spring Training, is paying off.

Williams finished his outing last week in D.C. with a 2.29 ERA, a 2.78 FIP, 14 walks (2.47 BB/9), 43 strikeouts (7.59 K/9), and a .223/.274/.294 line against over 51 IP, in which he’d allowed a pair of home runs.

“He’s really understanding who he is,” Martinez said last week.

“He’s utilizing all his pitches really well. He’s keeping the ball down, and this is all by design from him. We talked a lot about him at the end of the year, about how he needs to pitch moving forward, but he went home and he really decided to change his whole routine, and what he needed to do, and we’re seeing the benefits right now, and it’s awesome that he did that.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

“But he’s throwing the ball down. He’s using both sides of the plate. His changeup is really effective, his slider has been really, really good.

“It’s good to see that he’s going out there and competing the way he is.”

Williams gave the Nationals another solid turn in the rotation in Thursday night’s finale of the four-game series with the Braves in Truist Park, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks in 5 ²⁄₃ IP.

Given a 3-1 lead to work with when Joey Meneses doubled to drive in two runs then scored himself on a double by Jesse Winker, Williams gave up a leadoff triple by Jarred Kelenic and a sac fly by Michael Harris II, but stranded a two-out single and walk, then retired the next nine batters he faced before a two-out single in the sixth ended his outing.

Dylan Floro got the final out of the inning, stranding the runner he inherited, and recorded two outs in the seventh. Robert Garcia got out No. 3, then Hunter Harvey worked around a two-out double in the eighth and Kyle Finnegan tossed a scoreless ninth to earn a save and lock down the third win in four with the Nationals’ NL East rivals.

Williams got 12 swinging and nine called strikes on the night, throwing 95 pitches total, 56 for strikes.

“He’s been pitching lights out for us,” Martinez said after Williams’ latest effort. “It’s great to see. Like I said before, he made some adjustments, it’s working, his pitches are really crisp, so he comes in and the bullpen comes in and shuts the door down. It’s been awesome. We got a timely hit today by Joey Meneses, so it’s a big win for us. We come out of here with three wins out of four games, that’s pretty good.”

Martinez was asked for more details about the adjustments Williams made over the winter.

“He had a plan this winter to have a different routine,” he explained. “He did that. He worked on some different pitches, some different grips, he’s done that, he’s been effective, so I give him a lot of credit for going back after so many years and being a veteran to change some things up, and he’s been awesome.”

Williams earned the W (5-0) and lowered his ERA to 2.22 (2.78 FIP) on the year in the outing.

THOMAS IS BACK:

Lane Thomas talked before his first game back following a 29-game absence for an MCL sprain in his left knee about getting to go out again with his teammates and contribute.

“Feels great,” he told reporters. “Feels good to be back with all of the guys. Physically, I feel good. So I’m just excited to get back in there.”

“We did miss him,” Davey Martinez said before pencilling Thomas into the lineup for the first time since April 23rd.

“He’s a guy that can drive a ball for us and plays great defense for us, so it’s great to have him back.”

Asked if Thomas was good to go every day or if he would try to ease the outfielder back in, Martinez said they would take it on a day-to-day basis at the start.

“I talked to him a little bit,” the manager explained.

“We’re going to take it one day at a time, I’ll ask him every day how he’s feeling, but it could be a day where I just give him a day off of his feet, could be a day where I DH him, so we’ll get to that point when we get there.”

Thomas doubled twice in his return to the lineup, went 0 for 4 in a 2-0 loss in his second game back, then hit a three-run home run in his third start in three games in Wednesday’s win.

Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images

“We talked about this — when he got hurt — that we were going to miss him a little bit,” Martinez said on Wednesday night. “To have him back and have him playing — not just his hitting really, but his overall play, the way he plays defense, you see him running the bases, he plays the game the right way.

“It’s really good to have him back. I love the kid. The kid plays the game the right way, so he’s doing well.”

Thomas was 5-for-13 (.385 AVG), with three doubles, one home run, two stolen bases, and three runs scored in his first three games back, and he went 1 for 4 with a walk, run scored, and three RBIs in the Nationals’ 3-1 win in the series finale in Atlanta.