How Nationals starter Jake Irvin learned to deal with sweat

Such was life for Jake Irvin, the Washington Nationals starter who made his major league debut last year. The 27-year-old right-hander played through snow in high school and joked that he used to pitch with ice balls growing up in Minnesota. His rookie season in muggy Washington, however, included learning how to manage sweat.

“It’s just getting used to pitching in those hot atmospheres,” Irvin said. “Obviously, you do that in the minor leagues, too. But now on a different level with a different focus, things are amplified a little bit.”

Irvin played college baseball at Oklahoma, then spent time in the minors, but those stints didn’t invite nearly as many distractions. There weren’t as many fans. The stakes weren’t as high. And trying to retire big league hitters requires more intensity — and, apparently, more sweat.

“At one point in time, he didn’t realize that he had extra jerseys that he could switch out,” Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said. “I went to hug him one day, and I’m like: ‘What the heck? Your jersey’s soaked.’ ”

For Irvin, the low point last season came in St. Louis.

“In between every inning, I was trying to switch jerseys,” Irvin said. “I had to switch pants. I was going through it big time. And then when I was out on the mound, I had a couple innings where there were high-pitch innings, and I just remember sweat dripping from my hand as I’m holding the ball. I’m like, ‘Man, I’m throwing a sweaty ball.’ ”

Martinez, who said right-hander Stephen Strasburg dealt with the same problem and frequently swapped out his jerseys, talked with Irvin last year about applying rosin properly during the game so he could get a better grip on the ball. Irvin, who also worked with Washington’s training staff, uses a prescription-strength antiperspirant that he started putting on his arms to close up his pores and prevent sweat from getting to his fingers. From there, he made sure to properly hydrate on game days.

Kyle Finnegan sweats a lot, too. The right-handed reliever said Washington summers can be just as hot as those in his home state of Texas. Finnegan throws fewer warmup pitches during the summer compared with the early portion of the season because the heat can take a toll. Finnegan has worn an armband before and uses rosin, too, but even that’s not always enough.

“There’s a point where you just got to deal with it,” Finnegan said. “It’s more of just learning to trust that even if the ball feels a little sweaty in your hand that it’s going to go where you want it to go.”

A year of experience should help Irvin get adjusted to the summer months and build on a strong second half — he had a 3.76 ERA in his first 10 starts after the all-star break before two lackluster outings to end his season.

Last spring training, Irvin’s locker at big league camp was toward the back of the clubhouse — typically a spot for young pitchers who have a slim shot of making the Opening Day roster. This time around, his locker is in between those of Opening Day starter Josiah Gray and right-hander Cade Cavalli, signaling a change in his standing. He didn’t get off to a great start, though. In his second outing of spring training, Irvin allowed seven runs in 1⅔ innings, and Martinez came to him with a message.

“He wanted to work on stuff in games,” Martinez said this month. “That’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for him to come here and show me that he wants to be one of the five starters. Since then, he’s done really well.”

Irvin hasn’t allowed a run over nine innings in his two starts since. There’s certainly room for improvement from last season. Irvin allowed 1.5 home runs and four walks per nine innings. His chase and whiff rates were in the third percentile among major league pitchers, so he wasn’t fooling hitters very often.

But he hopes that adding a cutter will allow him to have a pitch with a speed profile in between those of his fastball and breaking ball. It also should help him attack lefties, who hit .274 off him compared with .233 for righties. And now that Irvin has a plan to manage his sweat, he has one less thing to worry about heading into 2024.

“Honestly, it’s probably more mental than anything,” Irvin said. “Just feeling that sweat, having a different feel than what you’re normally used to … when it’s in the back of your mind and it’s taking away from your main focus, which is competing over the plate, it definitely makes a difference.”