With their 7-2 win over the visiting Miami Marlins, the Washington Nationals have strung three wins together for the first time in the 2021 baseball season. The starting pitchers have put together a few stellar performances and the hitters were able to collect a few timely knocks, something which has’t come easily of recent.
While Patrick Corbin collected his first win of the year and lowered his ERA to single digits, and Josh Bell raised his batting average 27 points along with collecting four runs batted in, a quality performance by the pitcher who closed out the game is worth noting.
Austin Voth has found his niche in the Washington Nationals bullpen and has become a trusted reliever.
Flashback to September 4th of last season when Austin Voth allowed nine base runners and five earned runs in just over four innings pitched, in losing his fifth decision of the year (against zero wins). The three home runs he allowed to the Atlanta Braves were a season high and his ERA after seven games had reached 8.26.
Given plenty of opportunities in 2020 to become a part of the Nationals future starting rotation, seemed as if Voth had squandered his chance. Just as fellow pitcher Erick Fedde seems to have turned a corner, Voth is having a great start to the 2021 season.
He was on the hill to close out the most recent game against the Marlins. After striking out the side against The Fish, Voth has now accumulated 13 punch-outs in 9.2 innings on the year. Voth has a career high K/9 and has not surrendered a home run to date.
While his role is still undefined, Voth appears to be a long reliever/mop up guy. He’s been stretched out to three innings in a game, though has pitched just one inning in more than half of his appearances. Before his most recent outing, he hadn’t pitched in five days.
After hanging zeroes against the Marlins, Voth sits with a 1.86 ERA. He has proven to be someone manager Davey Martinez can rely on out of the bullpen, regardless of the situation.