KLMNO

SPORTS

TUESDAY,JUNE 7 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

BYJESSEDOUGHERTY

Withinthe Washington Nationalsor-

ganization, questions about Patrick

Corbin’s past, presentand futuretypi-

cally justlead to morequestions,then a

rabbit hole,thenoften somethingre-

semblingadead end.

At this point,athought exercisehas

blendedwithproblem-solvingasCorbin

hasdeterioratedintoapitcherwhoisfar

less effective thanhe was in ashort

prime.Thestarting pointis simplythis:

Whathappenedto the PatrickCorbin

whohelpedtheNationalswintheWorld

Seriesin 2019, recordingnineouts in

reliefinGame7?Afterthat,though,why

hasthewhiffrateonhissliderplummet-

ed? And how important is sliderveloci-

ty?Orfastballvelocity?OrwasWashing-

ton always destinedfor roughseasons

after givingasix-year,$140millioncon-

tracttoalefty who reliesheavily on two

pitches?

Is thislessaboutscoutingreportsand

mechanicsand moreaboutageand an

evolvingsport? WasCorbinphysically

taxedby the title run, alreadybehind

whenplayresumedamidthe coronavi-

ruspandemic,hithardin2020andthen

afraid to attack the strikezonein2021?

It’s complicated, of course,whichhas

madeit harderfor the Nationals’staff,

videoteamand analyticsdepartmentto

setCorbinstraight. That becameclear

through conversations with Corbin,

pitching coachJim Hickey andmore

than ahalf-dozenpeoplein the organi-

zation,someofwhomhavehadahands-

on role in assessingCorbin’s pastthree

seasons.And the answer—atleastthe

umbrellaanswertohowhehasslidfrom

aWorld Seriesheroto an ever-strug-

glingstarterat32—iswoventhroughall

of the above.

“He’snot averydemonstrative guy,”

Hickey told TheWashington Post in

mid-May. “Hedoesn’t breaks--- after

toughstarts or mopearoundthe club-

house.But Iknow it bothershim inside.

It absolutelybothershim.”

Whenthe NationalssignedCorbinin

December2018, theyknewthe risks of a

long-termcontract. If the back half was

worsethan the front,so be it. But what

Washington couldnot accountfor was

this sharpof afall for Corbin,whose

5.74 ERAisworst amongstarters since

the beginningof the 2020season.The

next-closestqualified pitcheris at 4.63.

SEE CORBIN ON D3

Behind Corbin’s blues

As the left-handercontinuesto struggle,can the Nationalsfind away to pinpointthe cause—orthe cure?

Speedmatters

Patrick Corbin’s slidergets the most swingingstrikes whenits velocityis in

the low 80s.Hereare all of the slidershehas thrown in 2021 and 2022,

broken downby swingingstrikerate, whichhereisameasureofswings and

misseson all slidersthrown, andvelocity:

70 75 80 85 90 MPH

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Velocity

Swinging

strike

rate

Faster pitches

Higher rate

Size of circles

indicatesnumber

of swingingstrikes

Source: Statcast THE WASHINGTONPOST

BYBENSTRAUSS

IftheLernerfamilysellstheWash-

ington Nationalsinthe near future,

thebuyers willbeacquiring an envi-

ableset of assets. Despite occupying

lastplaceintheir division, the Na-

tionals are recent World Serieswin-

ners,boastone of the game’s biggest

starsandarelocatedinathrivingcity

withastadiumjustafewblocksfrom

the U.S. Capitol. Forbes estimatesthe

teamis worth around $2 billion.

But thereisanalbatrossthe new

owner mayhavetocontendwith:

MASN. Mid-Atlantic Sports Network

broadcaststhe Nationals’ games.

While mostotherbaseballteamssell

their localTV rights to aregional

cable network, the Nationals’ rights

are boundtoMASN,acontentious

arrangement put in place whenthe

teammoved from Montreal in 2005.

And the networkiscontrolled by the

BaltimoreOrioles.

“I don’tthink you’dbeabletoclose

onasalewithoutaresolutiononeway

or another[on MASN],”said Robert

Malandro, amanagingpartner at

Whitecap Sports Group, an invest-

mentbankthathas consultedwith

major leagueteams on sales. “If

someone is going to spend $2 billion,

Iwould think theywould need some

certaintyonthe mediarights.”

Thatcouldbeintheworks,accord-

ing to twopeoplewithknowledge of

theMASNagreement,who said they

believe there willbeanattemptto

settle the dispute as an investment

bankhired by theLernersexploresa

sale.

Whetherany attempttosettle will

SEE MASN ON D4

Nats sale could be hurt by MASN mess —orhelp fix it

JONATHANNEWTON/THEWASHINGTONPOST

WhentheNationalssignedPatrickCorbin,theyknewtherisksofalong-termcontract.Butwhat Washingtoncouldnot accountforwasthis sharpofafall.

Nationalsat Marlins

Today, 6:40 p.m., MASN

As SEC football

coaches

bemoanedthe

stateofcollege

athletics last

week,ayoung

voicesaid the

darnedest, most

redemptivething.

Eli Drinkwitz is a39-year-old

runningthe program at

Missouri;Nick Sabanhas

whistles olderthan him. Saban,

70, was already10 yearsinto his

careerwhenDrinkwitz was born.

Yetitwas the juniorcoachwho

interruptedall the bleating

aboutdifficulties managingthe

name,imageand likenessfree-

for-all,the transferportal and

otherannoyancesby offeringthe

one thingoften lackingin this

kind of coach-speak:perspective.

“We’reprettyblessedto have

thesejobs, man,”Drinkwitz said

duringthe SEC springmeetings.

“I coachedhigh schoolfootball.I

paintedlines.In the summer,I

openedweightrooms.Igot to fly

downhere on aprivatejet.I’m

sitting at the beach. Is it hard?

Absolutely.Dowehavethe

greatestjobs in the world?

Absolutely.There’s no way that

I’mgoing to turn this into a‘Poor

me’deal.”

It’s amazinghow thatsimple

acknowledgmentof privilege

SEE BREWER ON D8

Collegesports

are changing,

so the coaches

need to adapt

Jerry

Brewer

ON THENBA

DraymondGreen shook

up the Celticsin Game 2

with his physicalplay. D2

STANLEYCUPPLAYOFFS

TheAvalanche sweeps

into the finalswith an

OT win over the Oilers. D2

ON SOCCER

In Qatar,the U.S. men

plan to takeadvantageof

the World Cup platform. D3

BYPATRICKSTEVENS

Fewleads weresafe against
Maryland’s baseball team,espe-
ciallyinits tinyhome stadium.
But Connecticut’s earlyeight-run
advantageMondaynight was
enough to oust the Terrapins
fromthe NCAA tournament.
Maryland nearly tied it on two
occasions in the late innings, but
the Huskiesheld on for an 11-8
win.ThefinalgameoftheCollege

Park regional was atributeto

attritionas muchas to skilled

baseball,though bothplayed a

partinendingthe No.15seed

Terps’ season.

“Ourguysemptiedthe tank,”

Maryland Coach Rob Vaughn

said.“Theygaveour team and

theygaveeach othereveryounce

of whotheyare. We can leave

herewithour headsheldhigh,

knowingwe did somereallyspe-

cialthingsthis year.”

TheTerps(48-14) trailed9-1

after fourinningsbut brought

the tying run to the plate in the

seventh,justfive batters after

Chris Alleyne’s two-runhomer

closedthe gap to 10-7.Connecti-

cutace Austin Peterson,pitching

in reliefontwo days of rest,

caughtIan Petrutz lookingat

strikethree to escapethe jam.

Theeighthbrought greater

consternation for Maryland,

whichhad closedwithin10-8and

had Kevin Keister on thirdbase

withone outwhen Alleyne

nubbedagrounder.PitcherJus-

tin Willis’sthrow waswide of the

bag,but Alleyne was calledout

for being out of the running lane

as he slammed into the first

baseman.Keister was sent back

to thirdbase,takingwhatwould

SEE MARYLAND ON D8

Huskies end the Terps’ dream season

CONNECTICUT11,

MARYLAND 8

BYMATTBONESTEEL

ANDDESBIELER

LIV Golf announcedMonday

thatsix-time majorchampion

Phil Mickelson will playthis

weekin the breakawaycircuit’s

inaugural event outsideLondon.

Theannouncementhad long

been expected. Mickelsonhas for

years complained thatgolfers

have beenmistreated financially

by the PGATour,and he and

threeunidentified players paid

for attorneys to writethe operat-

ing agreementfor the fledgling

league,whichis beingbankrolled

by SaudiArabia’sPublic Invest-

mentFund.

Mickelsonhas not played in a

PGA Tour event sincemissingthe

cutatthe Farmers Insurance

Openin late January; he missed

the Masters for the firsttime

since1994 and did not defend his

PGA Championship title. Hisab-

sencefollowedcommentsthathe

madeto biographerAlanShip-

nuckin whichhe said he was

willingto overlookSaudiArabia’s

humanrightsrecordto getthe

newleagueoffthe ground.

“They’re scarymotherf-----sto

getinvolved with,”Mickelson

said. “Weknow theykilled

[Washington Post columnist Ja-

mal Khashoggi] and have ahorri-

ble recordon humanrights. They

execute people over there for

beinggay. Knowing all ofthis,

whywould Ievenconsiderit?

Becausethis is aonce-in-a-life-

time opportunitytoreshapehow

the PGA Tour operates.”

SEE MICKELSON ON D2

Mickelson

will play in

inaugural

LIV event

Six-timemajorchampion

will returnto pro golf

on Saudi-backedtour

KATHERINEFREY/THEWASHINGTONPOST

Marylandwas denieditsfirstsuper regional trip since2015and

hadanotherwisememorable seasonendonits homefield.