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ATLANTA – The Nationals get the unfortunate pleasure of facing Chris Sale for the second time in less than a week as they start their last road series of the season tonight at Truist Park. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner shut out the Nats over eight innings with three hits, no walks and nine strikeouts in the nightcap of Tuesday’s split doubleheader back in D.C.
So interim manager Miguel Cairo made some tweaks to his lineup Monday, some due to injuries and some due to the matchup against Sale.
Daylen Lile and James Wood (both left-handed hitters) are sitting to start tonight’s opener against the Braves, while CJ Abrams returns to the lineup as the designated hitter.
Lile suffered a left knee contusion yesterday while sliding into the wall in the left field corner at Citi Field attempting to catch a fly ball. The rookie outfielder was able to walk off the field under his own power and didn’t even require an X-ray when he returned to the clubhouse. But Cairo wants to make sure Lile feels better before playing him again.
“He's feeling fine. He said a little sore,” Cairo said during his pregame media session. “I just want to make sure he has a day and make sure he's fine. But he's doing well.”
Lile tested out the knee by running in drills in the outfield at Truist Park this afternoon before batting practice. And then while his teammates hit, he simulated running the bases, coming back into the dugout and giving a trainer a thumbs up.
“We just want to make sure he don't have no pain,” Cairo said. “But the trainers saw him. I saw him this morning, and I asked him. He just told me that he was just a little sore. It's going to be day-to-day and asking how he feels. I will talk to the trainers and we'll make a decision (about playing in tomorrow’s game).”
On the other hand, Wood is fine health-wise, but he continues to struggle at the plate. He is only hitting .208 with a .621 OPS in 18 games this month. He went 1-for-11 with two walks and five strikeouts over the weekend against the Mets. But even more concerning, he now has 215 strikeouts on the season, only eight shy of Mark Reynolds' single-season major league record.
Cairo also sat Wood against Sale last week.
“He played three days over there (against) the Mets,” the interim skipper said of Wood. “And today you come over here and you got a really good left-handed (pitcher). I wanted to put mostly the right-handed hitters in there.”
Cairo also sat Abrams against Sale last week, but after missing yesterday’s finale in New York, the shortstop returns to the lineup as the DH, with Nasim Nuñez playing short and leading off.
Abrams jammed his right shoulder while sliding into third base during the Nats’ 11th-inning rally in Saturday night’s win over the Mets, causing him to miss Sunday’s game. But he feels well enough to swing the bat today and, after fielding ground balls and throwing at shortstop during batting practice today, he could return to the field tomorrow night.
“He knows he can hit,” Cairo said. “I wanted to make a lineup early. And I just (asked) him, 'Are you OK being a DH?' And he said, 'Yes, I can hit.' So I just want to make sure. Today he is going to play catch to see how it feels, and tomorrow we'll see. I'm just going to ask him after he plays catch to see how he feels.”
* The Nationals decided to end Josiah Gray’s rehab and shut him down for the remainder of the season. The right-hander recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery will now begin his offseason program in preparation for next season instead of making one major league start before the season ends Sunday.
“I think the decision was made because he did his rehab, he was in good spirits, he was feeling good, he's healthy. And now we want him to go home, relax and start (getting) ready for next season,” Cairo said. “Finally, he's going to have a whole winter working to be prepared to show that he can pitch in the big leagues, that he can be with us. But he's going to have a whole winter working out to get stronger and be healthy.”
In three rehab starts across three levels of the minor leagues, Gray allowed no runs over 6 ⅔ innings, with four hits, five walks and five strikeouts. He threw 45 pitches over 2 ⅔ scoreless and hitless innings while walking three and striking out two in his last start Friday night for Triple-A Rochester.
During Gray’s rehab process, the Nats were more focused on him staying healthy than his mechanics and results.
“I think it was more being healthy,” Cairo said. “It's tough doing rehab and you're going through that injury. Now it's just make sure you have a good offseason workout. Get strong. Have a normal offseason to come ready for spring training.”
