TUESDAY, JUNE 7 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D3
in had against the Mets. “In other
words: They are going to kick the
s--- out of you sometimes. But you
can’t veer away from the approach
and get shy. I’ll take 20 solid out-
ings and four clunkers if that’s the
way it is going to be. When he falls
behind, that’s when he has to give
in, and we’re not in good shape.”this year.
“If this is the new version of
him, if he’s pounding the strike
zone, pounding the strike zone,
pounding the strike zone, then
there are going to be a handful of
games that just really don’t go
your way,” Hickey said, foreshad-
owing the exact sort of start Corb-think the approach, to me, needs
to be tweaked and the game plan
needs to be adjusted [to pitch
inside more]. But his stuff is still
good, his velocity is where it’s
supposed to be, his spin rate is
where it’s supposed to be, and I
think it’s just a matter of, he’s got
to hit his spots and pitch his game
to get back to where he was.”
At his peak, Corbin was ahead
of the curve for starters leaning
heavy on off-speed pitches. But
from 2017 to 2021, slider usage
across the majors jumped from
16.1 percent of all pitches to 19.2
percent, totaling about 20,000 ad-
ditional sliders across a 162-game
season. This season, 21 percent of
pitches have been sliders, mean-
ing batters are potentially more
comfortable against the pitch.
Yes, Corbin also has felt the
sport shift around him, forcing
changes that have not been
smooth. In a May 15 start against
the Pittsburgh Pirates, Hunter
Greene, a young pitcher for the
Cincinnati Reds, threw more slid-
ers than fastballs in 7^1 / 3 no-hit
innings. Greene is a prototype for
the modern ace, armed with a
fastball that can reach triple dig-
its. Still, hitter tendencies — and
the popular goal of crushing fast-
balls with upward-angled swings
— have made it prudent to some-
times feature his slider more than
enviable heat. Corbin, on the oth-
er hand, sits in the low 90s and
has always needed to rip slider
after slider to thrive. Not long ago,
that was rarer.
“The league is certainly throw-
ing more breaking balls because
it’s a swing-and-miss league. This
is what everyone’s chasing: swing
and a miss, swing and a miss,”
Hickey said. “If you see 400 sliders
in a year, certainly you’re going to
be less affected by it than if you see
only 100 sliders in a year or 200
sliders in a year. I think that’s a
factor for sure.
“The more tape on you, the
more games you pitch, your stuff
goes down a tick when you get
older.... There are no secrets
anymore. You have to adapt and
be one step ahead of what every-
one else is seeing in you. Patrick
has maybe learned that the hard
way, but we’re going to figure it
out.”shortened season (not ideal). And
in 2021, it fluctuated throughout
the year: 78.4 in April, 79.9 in May,
79.5 in June, 81.1 in July, 82.4 in
August and 81.5 in September.
That August, Ryan Zimmerman
told reporters that Corbin was
“abused in 2019 in the [title] run,”
suggesting a cause for the mercu-
rial velocity.
Corbin’s slider and fastballs
have to work in tandem, requiring
pinpoint command at the bottom
of the zone. When the slider veloc-
ity sags, though, his arm speed is
slower, making it easy for batters
to identify whether he’s throwing
a fastball or a breaking pitch.
When the velocity is in that 81 to
82 zone, his arm speed is the same
and pitches tend to follow a near-
identical path out of his hand.
That has helped swinging strikes
spike in recent seasons, according
to two Nationals staffers who ex-
plained Corbin’s arsenal. Other-
wise, the takes and walks have
piled up.
“Sometimes I intentionally
throw a slower slider just to get
the pitch over for a strike,” said
Corbin, who has a 6.71 ERA in
12 starts this season. “But, yeah,
for the most part, I’ve had trouble
staying consistent with my slider
velocity, and I think that’s hurt me
some. That’s a mix of mechanics
and feel with the pitch.”
“I don’t think a lot has
changed,” Rizzo said last week. “IBy now, it is common for Corb-
in to stare at the clubhouse floor
and shrug during postgame inter-
views. He regularly says he felt
good, despite the results. He will
lament the grounders that rolled
through holes. He is throwing
more change-ups, walking fewer
batters and allowing fewer home
runs so far. But he still has yielded
the most hits (82) and earned runs
(45) of any pitcher in the majors.
And though he has struggled to
find solutions, Corbin’s slider ve-
locity came up in a handful of
discussions. Generally, higher
slider velocity has correlated to
more swinging strikes, which in-
dicates both good deception and
movement with his go-to pitch.
Between 81 and 82 mph is his
sweet spot. On either side of that
range, his swinging strike per-
centage will dip a tad or drastical-
ly.
In 2018, for example, his aver-
age slider velocity was around
those two numbers in each month
(ideal). In 2020, after he threw
231 / 3 innings in the previous play-
offs, it dropped to 79.2 mph for theThere is no shortage of theories
around the club. Corbin’s best ex-
planation is that he was worn
down after 2019, ramped up too
quickly during the pandemic,
raised his arm slot a bit to find
velocity and is still paying for the
mechanical flaw, which lowered
the speed of his slider — a key for
him — and messed with his fast-
ball command. Manager Dave
Martinez has repeatedly said
Corbin has to work down in the
zone again, which others feel is an
oversimplified explanation be-
cause of how well many batters
crush low pitches. Hickey points
to a psychological tic, suggesting
Corbin started nibbling around
the zone when the results turned
in 2020, leading him into hitters’
counts that typically went the hit-
ter’s way. Then he allowed a Na-
tional League-worst 37 homers in
2021.
General Manager Mike Rizzo
wants to see more aggression on
the inside part of the plate. Over
the past two seasons, Washing-
ton’s analytics department has
pushed Corbin to throw even
more sliders, though his usage has
declined to 32.5 percent in 2022,
his lowest in six years. In 2018, the
year that caught Washington’s at-
tention, Corbin threw the pitch a
career-high 41 percent of the time.
But Corbin, an all-star for the
Arizona Diamondbacks that sea-
son, is no longer a strikeout pitch-
er who can rely on whiff after
whiff with his slider. When he has
had flashes of success this spring,
he has pounded the zone and
induced enough soft contact.
An even bigger question, then,
is not whether Corbin can get
back to who he once was but
whether he can get remotely
close.
“You just try to make your
pitches and hope they hit it to
somebody,” Corbin said, outlining
a far different approach than he
had in his late 20s, when the whiff
rate on his slider was over 50 per-
cent in back-to-back seasons. Af-
ter Corbin yielded 12 hits and
seven earned runs to the New
York Mets on May 31, hitters had
missed on only 31.8 percent of
their swings against his sliders
CORBIN FROM D1
As Corbin struggles for a third straight year, is there any hope for a recovery?
NATIONALS ON DECKat Miami MarlinsToday6:40 MASN
Tomorrow 6:40 MASNThursday6:40 MASNvs. Milwaukee BrewersFriday7:05 MASN2Saturday4:05 MASN2
Sunday1:35 MASN2vs. Atlanta BravesMonday7:05 MASN
June 14 7:05 MASNJune 15 7:05 MASNRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM)JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
Patrick Corbin’s 5.74 ERA since the start of the 2020 season is worst among all major league starters.FROM NEWS SERVICES
AND STAFF REPORTSDeshaun Watson was sued by
another woman who, like 23 oth-
ers who have filed suit against him
over the past 15 months, accused
the Cleveland Browns quarter-
back of sexual misconduct during
a massage session.
The latest lawsuit against Wat-
son was filed Sunday in Harris
County (Tex.) District Court. The
plaintiff, a woman who says she
owned and operated her own
massage therapy business in
Houston, accused Watson of sexu-
ally assaulting her during a mas-
sage session in August 2020 that
her lawsuit called a continuation
of “disgusting and abhorrent con-
duct” by Watson.
According to the complaint, the
woman had two sessions with
Watson at her home. The first was
described as “professional.” He
paid $100, asked her to “just keep
this between us,” then left abrupt-
ly after receiving a phone call,
according to the lawsuit.
But she alleges the second ses-
sion, held five days later, had a
different tenor. The suit claims
that Watson “became aggressive”
in demanding she massage his
inner thighs and that, at some
point, Watson got an erection,
began masturbating and then
ejaculated, with some of his ejacu-
late landing on her face and chest.
According to the lawsuit, Watson
paid the plaintiff $150.
The woman, according to the
complaint, was so traumatized by
the situation that she quit mas-
sage therapy shortly thereafter.
She allegedly has suffered depres-
sion and anxiety and has experi-
enced difficulty sleeping as a re-
sult of the encounter.
Watson’s attorney, Rusty Har-
din, and his team said in a state-
ment that Watson “continues to
deny he did anything inappropri-
ate with any of the plaintiffs.”
The plaintiff, like the other ac-
cusers, is represented by attorney
Tony Buzbee.
The NFL declined to comment
on the latest lawsuit, saying
through a spokesman that “the
matter remains under review.”
The Browns did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
In March, before the filing of
the latest two lawsuits, two grand
juries in Texas declined to charge
Watson with a crime.
The NFL has been conducting
its own investigation and has in-
terviewed Watson, who could face
discipline under the league’s per-
sonal conduct policy.
— Nicki Jhabvala
and Mark Maske
l RAMS: All-pro defensive
tackle Aaron Donald will get a big
raise to stay with Los Angeles on a
reworked contract through 2024.
The Super Bowl champion
Rams didn’t disclose terms of the
new deal, but N FL Network re-
ported Donald is getting a
$40 million raise that will make
him the highest-paid defensive
player in the league.
Donald was already under con-
tract for $55 million over the next
three years, but he openly con-
templated retirement after win-
ning h is first ring in February. He
is now set to earn $65 million
guaranteed in the next two sea-
sons.
The deal means the seven-time
all-pro will be back to torment
offenses at the heart of the defense
with the Rams, who will be among
the Super Bowl favorites again.
The 31-year-old Donald is wide-
ly considered the most dominant
defensive player in the sport, and
he demonstrated his power yet
again last season. He capped four
excellent playoff games by mak-
ing the final defensive play to stop
the Rams’ opponents in both the
NFC championship game and the
Super Bowl.
Donald finished the regular
season with a career-high 84 tack-
les and 12.5 s acks, his fifth straight
season in double digits. He also
became the Rams’ career sacks
leader while earning his eighth
consecutive Pro Bowl selection.
l MISC.: Romeo Crennel an-
nounced his retirement, ending a
39-year NFL coaching career.
Crennel, who will turn 75 t his
month, was a full-time head coach
for five seasons, leading the
Browns from 2005 to 2008 and
the Kansas City Chiefs in 2012. He
also served as interim coach of the
Chiefs for three games in 2011 and
the Houston Texans for 12 games
in 2020. He finished with a record
of 32-63 across those seven years.
After 11 years as a college coach,
Crennel began his NFL career in
1981 as an assistant for the New
York Giants, with whom he would
win two Super Bowls. He earned
three more rings as the New Eng-
land Patriots’ defensive coordina-
tor from 2001 to 2004.
— Associated PressNFL NOTES
A 24th woman files suit
against Browns’ Watson
Sources: Statcast, Baseball Savant THE WASHINGTON POST
Varying speeds
75
80
85 MPH
Apr.
2017Sep. Apr.
2018Sep. Apr.
2019Sep. Apr.
2020Sep. Apr.
2021Sep. Apr.
202281.581.882.479.782.480.1Tracking Patrick Corbin’s slider velocity, month by month:Concacaf Nations League:
Grenada at United States
Friday, 10 p.m., ESPN Plusbigger than the sport.”
Other national teams have
used their popularity to make
statements. Before qualifiers in
March 2021, German players
lined up to spell out “Human
Rights” with T-shirts, and
Norwegian players wore shirts
that read “Human rights on and
off the pitch.”
FIFA, which usually frowns on
such acts, did not discipline
either team. That’s a sign the
organization will, to a point,
condone World Cup protests.
Zimmerman said the U.S.
players will “decide as a group
[whether there are] steps we can
take, and those conversations will
be ongoing through November.”
Raising awareness of issues in
Qatar is an extension of efforts
Cannon believes athletes should
make while they hold a captive
audience.
“I may not have that platform
later to bring light to the issues
I’ve experienced, my community
has experienced,” he said. “That’s
important looking at the grand
scheme of things. I know there is
always a debate about leaving
politics out of sports, but what I
can do to help contribute to this
world is use my platform I’ve
garnered with the people I’ve
touched with my experiences and
shed light on the social issues
that everyone in this world faces.”group made up of so many
backgrounds, and it’s a common
cause that we can all believe in,”
Zimmerman said. “When we have
the unity that we have, we want
to affect the United States on and
off the field.”
The players believe they can
effect change abroad, too.
When asked about making
their voices heard before and
during the World Cup, McKennie
said: “We’ve definitely been in
discussions. It started over a year
ago and bringing in people to
inform us of everything that’s
going on [in Qatar]. We’ll
definitely discuss within the team
what kind of gestures and things
we want to do at the World Cup
and leading up to the World Cup.”
The U.S. Soccer Federation has
provided experts to educate
players about Qatar and has
engaged with them in efforts to
raise awareness of issues
surrounding the event.
To ensure fair labor practices,
the USSF said it has hired a
compliance officer to vet Qatari
vendors and companies they’ll
contract during their multiweek
stay.
“They’ve done a lot of
educating for us about the issues
going on there,” right back
DeAndre Yedlin said of the
federation. “Now we’ve made the
[global] stage. We’re going to be
there. We’re going to see what
action we can take to help
change, help make the change
and be the change. Ultimately it’sCannon said.
It began in November 2020 in
Wales, the team’s first game since
the coronavirus pandemic
started and social justice protests
ignited in the United States and
spread around the world. With
“Be the Change” plastered across
the front of their warmup jackets,
the players locked arms during
the national anthem. “Be the
Change” became their motto and
mission.
A month later, they chose
individual messages for the back
of their jackets. Among the
selections were “Black Players for
Change,” “Unity” and “We Are All
Equal.”
“The guys really take it
seriously and really believe that,
if we want change, it’s up to the
individual to take responsibility
for it,” Coach Gregg Berhalter
said at the time.
It’s a conscientious group,
fueled in part by its diversity. In
the current camp, 17 of the 26
players are Black or Latino.
Midfielder Weston McKennie has
been outspoken on racial issues,
and goalkeeper Zack Steffen, who
is not in this camp, launched a
foundation designed to help
athletes who want to speak out
about equality issues and
contribute to “high-risk, minority
communities,” according to its
website.
On Sunday, the players issued a
letter demanding Congress take
action on gun violence.
“We’re an incredibly diverseSoccer players do
not get to choose
where the World
Cup is played. If
they did, Qatar probably
wouldn’t appear on many top-10
lists.
Put aside the logistical
headache of packing 32 teams
and hundreds of thousands of
fans into one metro area for a
tournament that typically takes
place in at least 10 cities. Never
mind that the tournament was
bumped from summer to winter
— smack in the middle of most
league seasons — because of the
Arabian heat.
The broader concern in FIFA’s
suspect selection of Qatar to host
this year’s tournament centers on
the country’s human rights
record: migrant workers trapped
in a restrictive employment
system known as kafala;
hundreds of deaths reportedly
linked to stadium and
infrastructure projects; gender
inequality; and the illegality of
homosexuality.
In about five months, the U.S.
men’s national team will arrive in
Doha aiming to win group-stage
matches and qualify for the
knockout round. It’s a realistic
goal. Of the four teams vying for
two slots in the round of 16, only
England is ranked higher.
Beyond the pitch, though, the
players say they see the big
picture and plan to use the
platform provided by the planet’s
most popular sporting event to
illuminate human rights issues.
“This is a group that’s always
been courageous,” center back
Walker Zimmerman said last
week during training camp in
Cincinnati.
“We are using opportunities at
this camp to talk about, are there
steps we want to take in Qatar?
Are there things we want to do?
We certainly want to be leaders,
stand up for what we believe in.”
The players say conversations
will continue for the remainder
of this camp, which ends after a
June 14 visit to El Salvador, and
pick up again in September when
the team gathers in Europe for a
week. In between, the core of the
team is in regular
communication.
Players say they recognize
there is a fine line for teams that
want to speak out while also
being respectful of their hosts.
“It’s obviously a different
country with a different set of
rules, but this group has always
been adamant on being the
change, always getting the word
out there,” right back ReggieU.S. men plan to use their platform at the World Cup
On Soccer
STEVEN GOFFKARIM JAAFAR/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
The concern for many players ahead of this year’s World Cup centers on Qatar’s human rights record.