Washington Nationals Will Miss Maligned Starter in This Key Area
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There were a lot of Washington Nationals fans celebrating when Patrick Corbin officially became a free agent at the conclusion of the 2024 season.
The left-hander was supposed to be an ace in their rotation when he signed a six-year, $140 million deal coming off his All-Star campaign with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018, but following his brutal tenure with the Nationals, that contract is now considered one of the worst in franchise history.
To be fair, Corbin did what he was brought in to do during the 2019 season, posting a 3.25 ERA and 138 ERA+ and playing a huge role in Washington winning their first-ever World Series title.
In fact, he was the winning pitcher in Game 7, throwing three scoreless innings where he allowed just two hits.
But after that, things went off the rails.
Corbin didn't record an ERA+ that was at or above the league average mark of 100 for the next five years, leading the National League in losses for three seasons in a row from 2021-23, while also allowing the most hits and total earned runs in three out of those five campaigns.
It was a mess.
However, Corbin did provide a huge benefit this organization could be missing in 2025; he was a workhorse.
Despite his struggles and poor performances, he was always available.
Corbin started 30-plus games in every year outside of the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and he threw over 170 innings in four out of the five possible seasons.
That is hard to replace in a standard five-man rotation.
The Nationals have plenty of young arms to choose from, and since they're not expecting to contend this upcoming season, there isn't a concern about burning through some of their established players since the front office is still trying to see who can be a factor for them going forward, but having that workhorse who consistently takes the ball every fifth day will be missed.
Washington is still trying to figure out their rotation now that Corbin is gone.
Four spots appear to be locked up with Mackenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Michael Soroka and Trevor Williams seemingly penciled in, leaving DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker to battle it out for the final one.
However, without Corbin in the mix eating up innings, there's a chance they have to expand to a six-man unit at some point or carry some more long relievers based on injuries that could pop up or poor performances which could occur.
Despite the brutal stretch the maligned left-hander had with the Nationals, his departure is going to be felt by the coaching staff in 2025.
Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai