It was only a matter of time for Nationals pitcher Matt Chico.
The 24-year-old was the lone starter to take his turn in the rotation almost every time out in 2007. The numbers weren’t spectacular. But there was room to hope after a rookie year where Chico was 7-9 with a 4.63 ERA in 167 innings pitched.
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Unfortunately, that consistency is missing this season. And — with a deeper group of starting pitchers each pushing for a shot of their own — the Nats can’t afford to wait for Chico to findit. Just seven starts into the season the team earlier this week dropped Chico to the bullpen. He was 0-5 with a 6.87 ERA and hadn’t lasted past the fifth inning in his last four starts. The Nats gave Chico’s starting spot to long-reliever Mike O’Connor.
“You just can’t give up. And [Chico’s] not,” said Nats right-hander Tim Redding, who pitches tonight against Florida, originally Chico’s scheduled day in the rotation. “Matt has earned his stripes from last year, being a AA prospect and coming right to The Show and leading the team in innings. And I don’t think he’s throwing all that poorly. But he needs to have the knowledge and the confidence that he did it last year and he can do it again.”
As one of the few veteran pitchers in the rotation, Redding, 30, often has talked to Chico about his ability to translate his raw stuff from the bullpen in pre-game warm-ups to the mound — something that was often the biggest obstacle in a frustrating April.
“Matt’s a battler, a grinder,” Redding said. “But it’s a situation where we just keep trying to push him along. Because he’s going to be a key part to this rotation again. The sooner we can get him back on track the better we’re going to be as a whole.”
