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Right-hander Jason Marquis, who signed a two-year, $15 million contract with the Nationals in the offseason only to post a 20.52 ERA in three starts before being shut down with bone chips in his elbow and undergoing surgery, will return to the majors on Sunday. Manager Jim Riggleman told reporters in Arizona this afternoon that Marquis will start for the Nationals on Sunday, taking Scott Olsen's scheduled start, though Riggleman said Olsen will remain in the rotation.
If Marquis, Olsen and Stephen Strasburg - who threw a simulated game this afternoon - are all in the rotation, the Nationals' pitching staff will be as close to their ideal starting five as it's been all year. Those three, Livan Hernandez and either John Lannan, Ross Detwiler or Craig Stammen would give the Nationals a rotation with three righties, two lefties, a pair of veterans, and three starters all 26 or younger.
It remains to be seen what the Nationals will do with Olsen. Strasburg is scheduled to pitch on Tuesday, so the Nationals could skip Olsen's turn in the rotation and bring him back after the next start. But for now, they'll move forward with Marquis on Sunday.
