Lord gets another start Tuesday, Soroka could return Wednesday

CINCINNATI – The Nationals haven’t decided the plan for Michael Soroka yet, but they have decided to give Brad Lord at least one more start in the interim.

Lord is listed as Tuesday night’s starter against the Guardians, staying on turn behind Jake Irvin, who will pitch Monday night’s series opener at Nationals Park. The team has Wednesday’s starter listed as “TBA,” with Soroka a possible candidate to return from a five-week stint on the injured list.

Lord replaced Soroka in the rotation when the latter suffered a right biceps strain during his March 31 season debut in Toronto. The rookie, who opened the year in the bullpen, has slowly been building his arm up since then and Thursday night in Philadelphia reached the sixth inning for the first time in the majors.

Lord has allowed only two runs in each of his last three starts and overall has a 4.43 ERA in eight appearances (five of them starts). He’ll now get a chance to make his sixth start, after which the team will need to decide whether to keep him in the rotation, send him back to the bullpen or option him to Triple-A Rochester to keep him on a starter’s schedule in case the team needs him again in the near future.

Soroka was dominant Friday in his third minor league rehab start, striking out 11 batters over five innings of one-run ball, throwing 94 pitches. The 27-year-old, who was signed for $9 million over the winter, appears ready to go, but the Nationals aren’t making any declarations about the plan for him until they see him throw again Monday when the team returns home.

“Until he throws a bullpen, we’ll figure out what we’re going to do with him next,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I know (pitching coach Jim) Hickey spoke to him; he said (Soroka) rebounded pretty good (from his last start). We’ll see what we do. I know we’ve got a day off coming up Thursday, so hopefully we’ll be in good shape after today.”

The Nationals could start either Soroka or Mitchell Parker in Wednesday’s game. And with the aforementioned off-day before they open a weekend series against the Giants, there are options for the team to rearrange their rotation order, perhaps giving a struggling Parker some extra time off.

* Amed Rosario is making back-to-back starts at third base, even though the Nationals are facing a right-hander today.

Rosario has been platooning with José Tena since Paul DeJong was injured 2 1/2 weeks ago, with Tena getting the starts against right-handers. But after Rosario enjoyed a big night Saturday that included a three-run homer and an RBI double off lefty Nick Lodolo, Martinez decided to keep him in the lineup today against righty Nick Martinez.

“I love the way he’s swinging the bat right now, so give him an opportunity to go out there,” the manager said. “And the matchup is good for him, too. He gets a chance to go out and play again. I mean, he hit the ball hard four times yesterday. We’re going to run on this offense right now, and hopefully they come out and swing the bats like they did yesterday.”

* Josh Bell is sitting for the second straight day after tweaking his right groin muscle, but the veteran slugger has been running through conditioning drills and appears to be well enough to pinch-hit if needed.

With Bell sitting, James Wood is again serving as DH. That opens up left field for Alex Call, who reached base three times Saturday night.