Patrick Corbin joined Bleacher Report for an AMA

Patrick Corbin is a man of the people as he teamed up with Bleacher Report to answer some of the fans questions

On Tuesday, May 5, Washington Nationals ace Patrick Corbin joined Bleacher Report for their reoccurring “Ask Me Anything (AMA)” segment. He joined the comments section and answered questions that were left for him by the fans. Corbin went over a variety of topics but, kept coming back to discussing the World Series. This shouldn’t come as a surprise as the Nats won the World Series this past October and with the sports world on hold, are still the kings of the league.

Having played a key part in the Nat’s recent World Series title, plenty of the questions were aimed at the team’s playoff run and how they overcame their 19-31 start. Corbin was asked by one user, “When you guys were struggling early in the season, who was the most vocal in the clubhouse in terms of staying positive, letting everyone know you guys could turn it around?”

"“Davie’s leadership definitely helped. Guys never changed their mindset. We tried to go 1-0, which was our motto. He helped out for sure. It was unlucky because we had a lot of great players get hurt, but getting them back was a huge boost.”"

It was interesting to hear exactly how the team avoided folding when they were at their lowest point. Thanks to Martinez and his mindset, the team was able to prevail and made it to the World Series. Corbin came out of the bullpen in game seven and pitched three perfect innings. After being asked what was going on in his head during those 3 innings, he explained,

"“I knew going into the game that I had a chance to pitch. I had no idea when. I had no idea how long. I kept telling our manager I was feeling good, and when I look back, I realized how special that was. After we got that 4-1 lead, Daniel Hudson shut it down, and that point we were excited when we padded the lead in the eighth inning.”"

It was well known heading into game seven that it was all hands on deck. Max Scherzer gutted out five innings before Corbin took over. With the bullpen mostly a liability outside of Hudson and Sean Doolittle, Corbin was used five times in relief during the playoffs.

After the World Series ended, the sports world found out the Houston Astros have been stealing signs for a few years now. The question immediately came to mind, did the Astros cheat against the Nationals. While we may never know, the Nats were prepared regardless. When asked if the Nats had to frequently switch up their signs during the World Series, Corbin responded,

"“We didn’t know what they were doing, but we knew they were trying to get an advantage. Sign stealing has been a part of the game forever. We all had a little card in our hat with five different signs where we could mix them up. It’s such an advantage to know which pitch is coming. It’s difficult when you know they have that advantage.”"

It definitely pays to be better safe than sorry. After discussing the World Series, Corbin was asked the crucial question, what was the first did he do after he won the World Series? He responded by stating,

"“We definitely celebrated. We got kicked out of the hotel bar, so we found another bar that we were at until 7 a.m. That was a blast. The next day was Halloween. We chartered back in the morning to D.C. and got to hand out candy to the kids, but we were all in rough shape.”"

After the Washington Capitals Stanley cup celebrations, the Nats had big shoes to fill. They definitely tried their hardest.