Patrick Corbin Has Been Historically Bad This Season

We've discussed this before, but Washington Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin has been truly horrible this season. His contract is the worst in Major League Baseball, and maybe the worst in professional sports right now. After another terrible outing on Saturday, he might officially be having the worst season for a starting pitcher in modern baseball history.

On Saturday, Corbin surrendered six earned runs, including five hits, two walks and two home runs in the first inning. He was pulled after getting just two outs. It was the second time in his last three starts Corbin didn't make it out of the first round. The thing is, it's only getting worse. In July his ERA was 7.99 in five starts. So far in August it's 18.00.

On the season, Corbin is 4-16 with a 7.02 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He leads the majors in losses and has league-highs in ERA and WHIP. If his ERA remains that high, it would be the highest for a qualifying pitcher in the 21st century and the fourth-worst since 1901. It would be the worst full-season ERA since Jack Knott posted a 7.20 for the St. Louis Browns in 1936.

Corbin's ERA+ on the season is 56, which means he's 44 percent worse than the average MLB pitcher. As Matt Weyrich points out, the last qualified pitcher to finish a full season with an ERA+ that low was Rube Bressler, who also posted a 56 for the Philadelphia A's in 1915. He was 20 years old.

It's pretty sad to see what has happened to Corbin. The 33-year-old is a two-time All-Star who helped lead the Nationals to a World Series title in 2019 after signing a six-year, $140 million contract. He's still owed $59 million after this season.