Within the first half of the season, Jake Irvin was a revelation. He was a workhorse and appeared like a possible frontline starter for the Nationals. Perhaps not an ace, however a entrance of the rotation man.
That run was punctuated by a July 4th gem, the place Irvin went 8 scoreless innings, solely permitting one hit and one stroll in opposition to the Mets. The Nationals gained that sport 1-0 after a Jesse Winker dwelling run. It proved to be the excessive water mark for each Irvin, and the group as a complete. After that efficiency, Irvin had a 2.80 ERA on the season.
Irvin would put on down because the season went alongside. He posted a 6.50 ERA in his final 15 begins, as he limped down the stretch. Nevertheless, his fall off is explainable, and there are methods to stop it going ahead.
First off, Irvin was due for some pure regression. He was not going to publish a 2.80 ERA for the season. His FIP and xERA have been within the mid 3’s at the moment, pointing to Irvin’s over performing. Nevertheless, his second half was not simply pure regression.
Irvin was tiring as he was throwing extra innings than ever earlier than. Earlier than this season, Irvin had by no means thrown greater than 143.1 innings in a season. In 2024, he threw 187.2 innings, which was fifth within the Nationwide League. Irvin was noticeably much less sharp down the stretch, and his velocity started to dip. Now that he has the expertise of throwing that many innings, he needs to be extra able to holding up late within the season.
One factor I want to see Irvin do is develop a slider. His four-seamer, sinker and curveball made up almost 90% of his pitches final season. Irvin tried including a cutter final season, however he didn’t belief it a lot and it was not notably efficient. He wants a pitch in that velocity band between his fastballs and his slower curveball. A slider round 86 MPH would match that profile. With all of the pitching labs nowadays, and his skill to spin a curveball, Irvin ought to have the ability to choose up a slider.
Ending the season robust, and optimizing his pitch combine would assist Irvin fulfill his potential as a center of the rotation starter. Whereas Irvin doesn’t have the attention popping stuff of a Mackenzie Gore, his strike throwing skill offers him a excessive flooring. He will likely be 28 years previous this season, however he’s underneath group management till 2030, so he needs to be a mainstay within the Nationals rotation.
Whether or not he’s a center of the rotation man, or extra of an innings eater comes all the way down to how a lot he can construct off of his first half. Irvin was solely Nationals starter who persistently gave them six innings final season. Irvin’s objective this season needs to be to provide the Nats one other 180ish innings of labor, this time with a sub 4 ERA.
