How Washington Nationals starter DJ Herz learned to calm his nerves

Before spring training this year, it was down to one word: “Breathe.”

On Saturday, as Herz delivered the best start by a Washington Nationals rookie since Stephen Strasburg, two people watched the lefty with that message in mind. Sam Guy, his former high school coach, watched on a TV in North Carolina. His dad, John Herz, looked on from Section 119 behind home plate at Nationals Park. In separate phone interviews, both mentioned they were “on Cloud 9” as Herz turned in six scoreless innings with one hit, no walks and 13 strikeouts.

Both had a good look at Herz’s face. Something was different from his first two appearances.

“The first couple of starts, you could see him breathing through his mouth,” Guy said. “[Against Miami], his lips were closed. Very calm. You could tell his heart rate was lowered. He was just competing within himself.”

That Herz found a way to control his heartbeat three starts into his career was as much a prophecy as it was at the nucleus of his winding road to the big leagues. John Herz put it like this: His son wasn’t blessed with an arm that could hit 98 mph or a 6-foot-6 frame. But he was blessed with his work ethic on an athletic journey that began at 4 years old. He needed every ounce of it to reach the majors. That meant nonstop work. It also meant he didn’t really have an off switch.

“DJ was always giving 100 percent of everything he’s got,” Guy said. “When pitching, if you are giving 100 percent every time, you’re going to get drained pretty quick. It’s a whole lot harder to control your heartbeat and mechanics.”

Word spread quickly around Fayetteville, N.C., about the three-sport athlete committed to the University of North Carolina for baseball. He also played basketball and football, seasons that evidently blended together. There wasn’t a practice, or a play, that wasn’t at full throttle, even if his off-field demeanor — reserved and a little red-faced — suggested otherwise, said Dorian Clark, his best friend and high school running back. (Guy, Herz’s high school coach, can support this characterization; he recounted a road trip on which Herz was too nervous to order at Subway.)

“He always used to run with his shoulders high. In football, you’re supposed to run with your shoulders down,” Clark said. “Every time, I would go, ‘Oh my God, he’s about to get killed.’ … Don’t get me wrong, I always thought he was shy. But he was the nastiest guy on the field.”

And so yes, Herz was a benefactor of that mind-set. Had he walked on as a quarterback at UNC football — a proposition he considered before then-four-star QB Sam Howell flipped his commitment to the Tar Heels during Herz’s senior year, making his decision to pursue baseball full-time easier — that fiery side might have been embraced even more. Bulking up and studying came easy because of his go, go, go nature.

But when it came time to slow his heart rate down as he pitched, he couldn’t.

Those problems popped back up in March and April. During one session early in spring training, he got the yips during pitchers’ fielding practice. In his first six starts with Class AAA Rochester, he walked 24 batters in 20⅔ innings. In his first two MLB starts, he was competitive but often behind in counts. Herz said that spoke, in part, to some issues with his direction toward the plate that his coaches in Rochester fixed in mid-May. But it also went back to his breathing.

So Herz did the only thing he knew how to do: he worked. He worked with Adam Wright, the Nationals’ director of mental performance, to slow himself down. When he feels the game speeding up, he counts backward from five in slow motion, something he utilized a few times per inning in his debut. He’ll throw a ball out toward the dugout and request a new one to reset himself. If he feels it really becoming a problem, he’ll step off to reset the pitch clock.

And he always has the message on his glove to look back at.

“I like to work really fast. I like to move. I like to get the ball and get back on the mound,” Herz said. “And it works sometimes. When things are going good, it works well. But other times, we’ve got to be conscious of, ‘Hey, we need to slow down. We just need to take a second, breathe, look at the clock, slow it down then get back into that groove.’ ”

Washington’s core includes more young pitchers than can fit in a five-man rotation. MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin and Mitchell Parker are healthy and have ERAs below 3.50. Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli are rehabbing. The former was an all-star last year. The latter has been Washington’s top pitching prospect for years. And then there’s Herz, who has always had a high strikeout rate, a dangerous fastball and a Vulcan change-up that are aided by his deceptive crossfire delivery.

You can still see the player who goes at 100 percent. Between innings, most pitchers walk to the mound. Herz runs. Nationals Manager Dave Martinez mentioned that he’s almost tripped over the dugout steps with excitement. Even against the Miami Marlins on Saturday, he had pitches sail far outside the zone. But he reeled himself in before trouble spiraled.

So, when he exited with a strut and a slap of his glove, it was a fun sight for Martinez. But it also meant his day was done at 84 pitches.

“It’s just all about, for me, getting comfortable,” Herz said. “That might take a little time, but it’s starting to come now.”