Josiah Gray Is Locked In But Washington Nationals Run Support’s Been Shaky | The Sway Needs Some Bigger Bats Behind Him

The Nationals have posted zero runs in support of Josiah Gray in each of his four starts this season, and the club is scoreless in his past three outings.

 

“Josiah’s been pitching extremely well for us all year,” MLBbro first baseman Dominic Smith told MLB.com. “It’s a part of the game. You go through some tough luck like this when you do have good starters make some good pitches and pitch well, and it sucks. It sucks that we weren’t able to push across a couple of runs for him, especially how well he’s been pitching.”

 

Although Washington’s bats have been nonexistent when the right-hander toes the rubber, Gray has consistently put out solid performances. 

 

 

His most recent outing saw the 25-year-old toss allow just one earned run over five innings, giving up four hits and four walks while fanning three batters in Gray’s first career appearance against the Orioles lineup. The 1-0 loss on Tuesday pushed Gray’s record to 0-4 on the season. But he’s only allowed more than one run in two starts this season, against the Rockies (2) and the Braves (5).

 

Over his last three starts, Gray has allowed just four runs over 16 2/3 innings.

 

“It’s always going to sting to get an ‘L’ with your name attached to it, but I know I’m going out there doing my job, keeping my team in the game and just making it simpler on myself,” Gray told MLB.com. “I’m seeing the results I want to see in terms of getting softer contact, getting more ground balls, getting off the barrel.”

 

As a young pitcher getting his first time around on some teams, Gray is actively improving and learning from his experiences on the bump, and noticeable adjustments have been made. 

 

“He’s been very competitive,” said Martinez. “He makes pitches when he needs to. For the most part, he’s been keeping the ball down, and that’s something that we talked about all winter long with him, and he’s done a great job.”

 

 

The most notable area that Gray will need to continue to improve on is his longevity in games, as he’s pitched six full innings in just one of his performances thus far this season. 

 

“I think up until that fifth inning, I was in the zone pretty well,” Gray said after the Beltway Series. “But [I] just have to continue to build up that endurance and build up that pitch count and just go out there and keep the team first and just give them a good start, a good opportunity to win.”