ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Patrick Corbin experienced both the best and basement of pitching, just years apart. He was a five-WAR starter in 2019, earning Cy Young votes and lifting a team to a World Series title. Two seasons later, he led MLB in losses and began years of struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t fun going out there every day,\u201d Corbin told The Athletic, \u201ckind of getting kicked around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corbin spent his final five seasons with the Washington Nationals, after winning the 2019 title, as arguably baseball\u2019s worst starting pitcher. It sucked, he said. Now, with that era of his career long over, Corbin has found new life. He won\u2019t likely win the Cy Young or twirl key innings in the World Series, but the 36-year-old has become exactly what Toronto\u2019s injured-riddled rotation needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a real breath of fresh air for us,\u201d manager John Schneider said.<\/p>\n
Max Scherzer stood in the dugout beside Nationals manager Davey Martinez in Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. Scherzer, after five innings as Washington\u2019s starter, was relegated to spectator, watching Corbin carve through relief innings in the sixth and seventh. He turned to his skipper, with six outs separating Washington from the championship, and asked who would handle the next inning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was decision time,\u201d Scherzer said.<\/p>\n
The answer, Scherzer recalled, was obvious. Corbin would continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe both nod our heads, like he\u2019s going,\u201d Scherzer said. \u201cSure enough, he goes out there in the eighth, pitches well in the eighth and the rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the peak for Corbin, who twirled three scoreless innings of relief for Washington that day, taking the baton from Scherzer and handing it to Daniel Hudson to close out the ninth. He stood on the field after the outing, with a World Champions hat on his head and a beaming smile on his face. The first season of a six-year, $140 million contract was the ultimate success.<\/p>\n
The next year, Corbin\u2019s ERA jumped from 3.25 to 4.66. He never posted an ERA under 5.20 in the four seasons that followed and was charged with 63 losses from 2021 through 2024, 19 more than any other starter. As Washington tore down a championship team, trading stars for prospects and letting core pieces walk in free agency, Corbin\u2019s effectiveness evaporated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t ideal,\u201d Corbin said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t how I saw it, from winning a World Series to then kind of dumping everybody two years after.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the lefty\u2019s contract expired after 2024, he could\u2019ve walked away. His ERA certainly suggested it was maybe the end. Some players, with the big contract banked and a ring on the mantle, would\u2019ve called it a career at 34 years old. But Corbin never considered retirement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could still pitch,\u201d he said. \u201cI know the numbers weren\u2019t there at times. I had some games here and there, but I just felt like starting fresh somewhere else on a team that was ready to win now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, he chose a new chapter with Texas. Joining the Rangers late in spring last year, he made 31 outings with a 4.40 ERA \u2014 a return to respectability. Now with the Jays, his mid-30s renaissance continues.<\/p>\n
Corbin allowed two singles in his first three innings in Wednesday\u2019s outing, following both with ground-ball double plays. He carved through five innings on just 60 pitches, earning his second crack at the sixth inning in as many games. His season ERA, through six starts, is down to 3.60.<\/p>\n
The lefty isn\u2019t playing for $23 million anymore. Instead, he\u2019s a $1 million mercenary patching a hole in Toronto\u2019s rotation. The Jays aren\u2019t expecting brilliance from Corbin, but his dull consistency is much appreciated. Cody Ponce is out for the year, Jos\u00e9 Berr\u00edos awaits results of a second MRI, Shane Bieber is still weeks from rehab games and Scherzer\u2019s arm status is uncertain.<\/p>\n
The Jays aren\u2019t asking for 2019 Corbin. If they turn this slow start around and scratch back to October, they won\u2019t likely turn to the lefty for three innings of relief in a win-or-die postseason game. But Corbin is proving he can still be a part of success. After years in baseball\u2019s basement, he wants another crack at the peak.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I still play,\u201d Corbin said. \u201cI want to have an opportunity at the playoffs again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blue Jays swept in Tampa: \u2018Get back to forming an identity\u2019<\/p>\n
Despite Corbin\u2019s solid start Wednesday, Toronto\u2019s offence let the club down for a third straight game. Ernie Clement threw his arm in the air, flashing frustration after an eighth-inning error led to the Rays\u2019 final run in a 3-0 victory and a three-game sweep.<\/p>\n
The Jays\u2019 lineup has shown signs of life, scoring 11 runs against the Twins on May 2 and eight against the Red Sox a few days before that. But the scoring, for an offence that was near the top of baseball last year, has been sporadic at best.<\/p>\n
Sure, George Springer just returned, and Addison Barger, recovered from ankle ailments, should be back Friday. But the injuries, Schneider said, are not a reasonable excuse. Too many games, the Jays find themselves with a low run total and a starting pitcher efficiently carving into the mid-innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou got to just be relentless,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cYou have to not try to do too much, then you get back to forming an identity, which I think we formed last year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The series loss was Toronto\u2019s first since two defeats in Arizona in the middle of April, but the sweep still dropped them to 16-21. The Jays, after Wednesday\u2019s game, sat 22nd in home runs, 23rd in OPS, 23rd in weighted runs created plus and 24th in runs scored. The reinforcements are coming, in Springer, Barger and eventually Alejandro Kirk. But really, Kevin Gausman said, Toronto\u2019s path forward is simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to play a little bit better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 Patrick Corbin experienced both the best and basement of pitching, just years apart. He…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82,507],"class_list":["post-653805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-toronto-blue-jays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=653805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}