WASHINGTON – Often times, it’s one bad pitch that leaves a pitcher kicking himself after a game.
On Sunday, May 3, it was a couple hasty steps off the mound that had Logan Henderson wondering, “What if?”
The right-hander’s slip and fall in his haste to cover first base opened the door to a two-run fifth inning for the Washington Nationals, who took the lead for good from that point on against the Milwaukee Brewers in a 3-2 loss at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon, May 3.
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It was an unfortunate turn of events for Henderson, who deserved much more credit than blame after turning in the second-best start of his fledgling major-league career and in his other five innings of work mowed through an underrated Nationals lineup featuring a pair of big-time hitters in James Wood and CJ Abrams.
Henderson struck out eight in all – one shy of his career high – and otherwise defined efficiency in what turned out to be his longest outing of the season by one inning and nine pitches.
“I felt good out there,” Henderson said. “It was unfortunate not to get the win today, but I felt like myself out there.”
The Brewers’ No. 5 prospect as rated by the Journal Sentinel, Henderson had but one previous start for the Brewers under his belt coming into Sunday, a two-inning stint as “opener” in the nightcap of a doubleheader at Kansas City a month ago.
Since then he’d been slowly building up at Class AAA Nashville, throwing roughly three innings and between 55 and 60 pitches before bumping up to five innings and 67 pitches on April 26 in a win at Charlotte.
“I think it helped,” Henderson said of his time stretching out in the minors. Milwaukee has been handling the 24-year-old carefully because of his injury history since being drafted in the fourth round in 2021.
“I obviously had to get my pitches up and my up-downs up before I could go that length up here. It certainly helped, but I’ve felt ready for quite some time so it was good to get back out there, for sure.”
Henderson scattered five hits, a run and a walk while striking out nine in that final start at Nashville, and he carried his good stuff over to his start at Washington as Milwaukee sought to push originally scheduled starter Chad Patrick back in the rotation a day for some extra rest.
With his recall becoming official before the game (right-hander Easton McGee was optioned to Nashville in the corresponding move), Henderson faced the minimum through four innings on only 31 pitches as the teams played to a scoreless tie.
Finally in the top of the fifth the Brewers’ punchless offense – it went homerless in the series and on Sunday was without an ill Brice Turang – scratched out a run on a Joey Ortiz sacrifice fly only for the Nationals to answer with a pair in the bottom half.
And it might well not have been any had it not been for Henderson’s slip and fall.
It came with the speedy Abrams leading off, and after Abrams had pulled a sharp ground ball to the right side that was fielded by first baseman Jake Bauers.
Had Henderson been able to make it off the mound, it would have been an easy flip to first for Bauers and the first out of the inning.
Instead, Bauers was too far away from the bag to beat Abrams in a footrace. Not long thereafter Abrams stole second and came in to score on a Nasim Nuñez single.
Another speedster, José Tena, followed with a triple to the gap in right-center that scored Nuñez from first and put Washington in front for the first time in the series, 2-1.
“It wasn’t slippery,” Henderson said. “I saw that I had to cover and went to go run over there and the ground wasn’t underneath me. That was on me. I just tripped.
“I think it’s a different ballgame if I get over there and get the out. But that’s baseball, and that one’s on me, for sure.”
Henderson rebounded with his best stuff in what proved to be his final inning in the sixth as he struck out the side before manager Pat Murphy replaced him with another youngster, left-hander Brian Fitzpatrick.
“Really positive stuff, man,” Murphy said of Henderson (0-1), who allowed three hits, didn’t issue a walk and threw 56 of his 76 pitches for strikes.
“He was fantastic. He’s been fantastic in Triple-A. He gave up a couple runs when he was up here the first time, some unlucky breaks there, but he was magnificent today. Deserved better. Fell down covering first base and that led to a run.
“Other than that, he was pretty special.”
Murphy said prior to the game that Henderson “was the best of everybody I’ve been around” when it has come to the uncertain existence young pitchers like him face with all the back and forth between the minors and majors.
“I’m asked to do a job, and whether it’s up here or down there it really doesn’t change,” said Henderson when asked how he handles the ups and downs. “I’m just trying to focus on the task at hand. If I’m a Sound, my job is to post for the Sounds and if I’m called up here my job is to post for the Brewers.
“Regardless of where I’m at, the job doesn’t change.”
Milwaukee has plenty of uncertainty in its rotation currently, with Brandon Woodruff shut down for the time being with shoulder inflammation and Jacob Misiorowski dealing with a hamstring cramp that could affect his availability for his next start.
Quinn Priester has been stretching out at Nashville at he attempts a comeback from thoracic outlet syndrome.
Henderson, meanwhile, remains part of a group of young, promising options that includes left-hander Shane Drohan and right-hander Coleman Crow, who have also shown good things in limited opportunities at the major-league level this season.
Does Henderson know what’s next for him?
“No,” he said. “Just prepare for my next outing, wherever it is.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: But for one ill-timed slip, Logan Henderson was terrific vs. Nationals
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
