Erick Fedde snapped a four-start winless streak, and earned his second win of the 2020 campaign with six scoreless innings of work on the mound against the Miami Marlins in Marlins Park the last time out about before he took on the Philadelphia Phillies in D.C. on Wednesday night.
Fedde, 27, gave up just one hit and two walks in the Nationals’ 5-0 win over the Fish, with six Ks from 22 batters faced, and he talked afterwards about what was working for him.
“My fastball in and out was really good,” the 2014 1st Round pick told reporters.
“Had a changeup today that was really good, I got a lot of big outs with that, and mixed in some cutters and sliders, it’s just one of those days where you have four pitches, and you love those days.”
The key for Fedde in that outing, his manager said, was, “utilizing his fastball, and pitching on both sides of the plate. He did that really well today. Really well. I’m proud of him.”
Last night in the nation’s capital, Fedde was taking on the Phillies for the third time in 2020 after giving up 11 hits and 10 ER in 11 IP (8.18 ERA) in the previous two outings, and he gave up a run early when Bryce Harper hit an 0-1 sinker out to left field for a two-out, opposite field blast that gave the visitor’s a 1-0 lead after one.
The start we needed. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/XaMuac1do7
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 23, 2020
A bases-loaded grounder to third in the second brought in a second run, 2-0, but Fedde set seven in a row down after that to keep it a two-run lead through the top of the fifth.
Harper got Fedde again in the sixth, hitting a leadoff home run out to left-center on a first-pitch curve for his second of the game and 13th of the season, 3-1.
Fedde returned to the mound for the seventh, and got through the inning for his longest start of the 2020 campaign.
Erick Fedde’s Line: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 Ks, 2 HRs, 103 P, 64 S, 10/4 GO/FO.
The first home run to Bryce, I didn’t like that pitch, he punished it,” Fedde said of the first of two big hits he gave up in what ended up a 12-3 loss to the Phillies.
The second one, it’s a pitch on my scouting report I like and I think I can live with. He gets paid a lot of money, so sometimes you’re going to get beat there.
“But yeah, I want to keep the ball in the ballpark obviously there, but I think I made some good pitches and was pretty efficient, and I really liked where I was at.”
“He’s pitching with a lot of confidence,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He did well tonight, threw seven innings, [103] pitches, that’s all we can ask. He kept us in the game.
Another one for @bryceharper3! #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/YVIdfQBEUf
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 23, 2020
“His last three starts he’s done really, really well. So that’s an awesome way for him to finish, he won’t get another start here, but he did really well moving forward, he’s got something to build on for next year.”
“I think the last couple starts I had a lot of confidence,” Fedde agreed.
“Pitching to my strengths, if anything it’s nice to end the year with things to build off of rather than things to work on.”
His manager said it was big for Fedde to finish the season strong and go into the offseason on a good note.
“It’s huge, especially for him, who has had his up and downs, but I think he understands what we’ve been trying to talk to him about for these last couple years, and he’s attacking the strike zone, he’s trying to make pitches, he’s 0-2 a lot on hitters, and then I told him, I said, you can forget about the strikeouts, [get] contact, ground balls, you’re a ground ball pitcher, get those ground balls, and he’s been doing that, and he’s been successful doing it his last three starts. We’ll build off of that and we’ll come back and like I said, he feels good about himself and it’s a good way to end up.”
“It gives me a ton [of confidence],” Fedde said of the strong finish to the season. “I’m not going to take going into Spring Training any [less seriously], in a sense, I know I’m still going to have to go in and pitch well and try to earn a spot, but I think it helps bolster the resume and hopefully get a chance to be a big part of the team next year.”
“Moving forward,” Martinez said, “... we’ve got an opportunity to do something with him knowing he can potentially be the fifth starter here next year, so I told him he did great.
“I appreciate him hanging in there, and come to Spring Training ready to battle again, that’s all you can tell him.”