After looking shaky and antsy in his first three starts as a big leaguer, Jackson Kent truly put himself on the map last night. Outside of Cade Cavalli and Foster Griffin, who have combined for 28 quality starts, great pitching performances have been hard to come by for the Nats. However, Kent did exactly that, delivering a marvelous performance when his team needed it most.
I want to break down what he did to have success and talk about Kent’s future. Before he debuted, Kent was seen as a lefty with
an advanced feel to pitch and a great changeup. In his first three outings, we saw the changeup, but his command was very shaky. Despite walking 4 hitters, Kent showed much improved command.
He was consistently on the attack and never had that super long inning. Kent was not blowing away Marlins hitters, but he excelled at keeping the ball off the barrel. He got 12 ground outs last night, which is a big reason he was able to go so deep in the game.
Sitting up in the press box, it was surprising to see how long Blake Butera was willing to let his rookie go. With a taxed bullpen and Kent looking good, the decision made sense, but it is not what we typically see from Butera. He lets the likes of Cade Cavalli and Foster Griffin go deep, but otherwise, he has a pretty tight leash.
Butera said after the game he thought that going into the 7th would be a good learning experience for Kent. He also noted that Kent’s stuff was still there and that played a factor in his decision making. Even as Kent got back his season high in pitch count, he was still up to 94.5 MPH in the 7th inning. In the end, Kent went 106 pitches in his 7 frames.
One thing I saw from Kent that intrigued me as well was a slight tweak in pitch usage. Despite being known for his changeup, we actually saw less of the pitch from his last night. We saw more curveballs and sinkers tonight, and that worked very well. His curveball was particularly impressive, getting a couple massive strikeouts on the pitch.
Seeing a young pitcher adapt and learn as he is tested in the big leagues for the first time is very interesting to see. Kent is not a pitcher with elite stuff, so he will have to get by on feel and gameplanning. He had a very good plan for a pesky Marlins lineup last night. Kent knew they were not going to strike out much, so he tried to coax ground balls out of them with his sinker and curveball. This plan worked like a charm.
When I asked Kent what the biggest difference was in this outing, he said it was being in the zone and getting ahead of hitters. Last night, Kent was pounding the zone with his fastball and sinker before trying to get guys to expand with his secondary pitches. This is a recipe that I think will work for Kent moving forward, but he will still need to limit the walks a bit more.
I am very excited to see what this 23 year old can do the rest of the season. September is like an audition heading into next season for the lefty. He struggled early in his big league career, but last night was a massive step in the right direction. Kent showed he can go deep in games, get out of jams and reward his manager’s faith. Blake Butera pushed Kent to a shocking degree, and it paid off. That is something that will stick with the skipper.
The way they have pushed Kent through the minors and even pushed him through this start shows the amount of faith the organization has in him. They seem to view him as a long term rotation piece, and it is easy to see why. He is a crafty lefty with a deep mix, solid stuff and has flashed good command.
Kent is still far from a finished product. He still needs to find a mix that can consistently work in the big leagues. Kent is not getting the same amount of chase or whiffhe got in the minors and that is resulting in a lot of walks. Each time he takes the mound, it does feel like he is learning something new and getting a little bit better though.
As we enter the final month of play, the Nats are out of the playoff race, but there is still a lot to play for, especially for rookies like Kent. He still has a long way to go if he wants to lock down a rotation spot for next year, but last night was a huge step in the right direction.
