Washington Nationals Pitcher Patrick Corbin Expresses Frustration Over Rain Delay

Patrick Corbin gave umpire Adrian Johnson an earful for calling a rain delay when the San Diego Padres had the bases loaded against the Washington Nationals in the top of the first.

Jul 19, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Patrick Corbin (46) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning at Nationals Park. / Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres got just nine minutes into their matinee showdown on Thursday before they were forced to take a break.

Of course, the inclement weather in the Washington, D.C., area led to the rain delay, but it was second base umpire Adrian Johnson who made the call to put the game on hold in the top of the first inning. At the time, the Padres had the bases loaded with two outs and the score still tied 0-0.

Nationals starter Patrick Corbin had already delivered a pitch to Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim when Johnson motioned for the grounds crew to bring out the tarp.

Corbin expressed his disbelief to Johnson, pleading his case to finish the at-bat and the top half of the inning. The veteran lefty kept chirping Johnson as he reluctantly made his way back to the dugout, but the umpire hardly paid him any mind.

The Nats-Padres game went into a rain delay in the top of the first inning and Patrick Corbin wasn't happy pic.twitter.com/4rABrkn3VN

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 25, 2024

Corbin surely had some pent-up frustration from juicing the bases, which can partially be attributed to home plate umpire Ramon De Jesus.

After forcing Jurickson Profar into a leadoff groundout, Corbin gave up a single to Donovan Solano and a walk to Xander Bogaerts. He then got Manny Machado to line out to second, meaning all he had to do to escape the jam was sit down Jake Cronenworth.

Corbin missed the strike zone badly with his first two pitches, but he managed to recover and work his way into a 3-1 count. While his fifth pitch seemingly found the outside edge of the zone, De Jesus called it a ball and awarded Cronenworth first base.

The lone pitch Corbin threw to Kim, meanwhile, appeared to clip the bottom of the strike zone, only to get called a ball.

Following the 75-minute rain delay, Kim worked a nine-pitch at-bat against Corbin, then cleared the bases on a three-RBI single. Corbin's counterpart, Padres starter Dylan Cease, went on to toss a no-hitter and lead his team to a 3-0 victory.

Corbin, 35, is now 2-10 with a 5.26 ERA, 1.458 WHIP and -0.3 WAR through 21 starts this season.

The southpaw was a two-time All-Star with the Arizona Diamondbacks between 2012 and 2018, and he even earned NL Cy Young votes in his first year with the Nationals in 2019. To that point in his career, Corbin was 70-61 with a 3.80 ERA, 1.267 WHIP and 16.9 WAR.

Corbin's production fell off a cliff soon after. Over the past five seasons, Corbin has led the NL in losses three times, earned runs allowed three times, hits allowed twice and home runs allowed once.

Since the start of 2020, Corbin is 29-67 with a 5.56 ERA, 1.531 WHIP and -1.7 WAR. His 126 starts in that span rank fourth in all of MLB.

Corbin is in the final season of the six-year, $140 million contract he signed with the Nationals back in December 2018. His $35.4 million salary this year is more than five times higher than Washington's next highest-paid active player, catcher Keibert Ruiz.

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