40 in 40: Patrick Corbin
After 4 straight awful seasons, can Corbin turn back the clock?
Editor’s Note: This is another installment of our 40-man breakdown series. You can read more by clicking here.
Patrick Corbin
Position: Starting Pitcher
Current Status: MLB
How Acquired: Signed a six-year, $140 Million deal with the Nationals in December 2018
2023 Grade: F
2024 Opening Day Projection: Back of rotation starter
2023 Stats: W-L: 10-15, 5.20 ERA, 180 IP, 1.36 WHIP, 0.9 fWAR, 0.3 bWAR
2023 Analysis: Patrick Corbin continued his trend of recent struggles in 2023. It was the third consecutive year that Corbin had allowed over 100 earned runs (104), as well as the third straight year for him leading all of major league baseball in losses (15).
For the first time in his career, Corbin was in the bottom 10 percent of the league in strikeout rate in the league in 2023. It was a remarkably bad season he would like to put in the rearview mirror, but it is not all that surprising based on his results since 2020.
2024 Outlook: Heading into the final year of his deal with the Washington Nationals, Corbin is looking to turn around a miserable stretch of baseball that has clouded an otherwise great career. The expectations for Corbin are about as low as they possibly could be. This doesn’t mean he can’t turn the clock back 5 years and look something resembling his 2019 self, but it isn’t very likely.
It wouldn’t be much of a shocker to see Corbin lose his role in the starting rotation as the season progresses and younger guys like Cade Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge may get a chance later in the year after the Trade Deadline. If the trend continues like it is for Corbin this very well could be his last season in the MLB.
