Jacob Young is back playing center field for the Nationals, bumping Robert Hassell III to right field and Daylen Lile to the minors.

Young was officially activated off the 10-day injured list today, ready to return just shy of three weeks after spraining the AC joint in his left shoulder trying to make a leaping catch at the wall in Baltimore. The 25-year-old played three games on a rehab stint with Double-A Harrisburg, going 3-for-11 with a double, RBI, walk and stolen base while feeling confident about the state of his shoulder.

“We talked last night, sat down with the medical staff. He checked all the boxes,” manager Davey Martinez said. “They said he felt good. He got a bunch of at-bats fairly quick and said he felt fine. He’s ready to go, excited to be back.”

Young, who hadn’t played since the May 20 collision with the Camden Yards wall, said his body was admittedly out of game shape during Tuesday’s rehab debut. But he woke up Wednesday morning feeling good and had no issues the next two nights. He believes he’ll have no restrictions when he takes the field tonight against the Rangers.

“Full-go. Try to avoid the wall as best as I can out there,” he said with a laugh. “But everything else, full-go. Sliding, diving, all that stuff is good.”

The Nationals have welcomed plenty of former teammates back to D.C. in recent years, especially those who were part of the 2019 World Series championship roster. Tonight, though, offers maybe the most intriguing return yet: Patrick Corbin.

Corbin is by no means the best – or the most popular – former Nationals player to come back to town. But he was here much longer after the World Series than anyone else, and nobody had more mixed results over that length of time. The Nats do not win the title if not for Corbin’s performance all season and especially that October. But his performance the ensuing five years didn’t come close to matching the first.

Now the left-hander is a member of the Rangers rotation, with much better baseline stats (3.71 ERA, 1.256 WHIP) through 10 starts despite peripheral numbers that are remarkably similar to what he did here. What kind of reaction will he get from the D.C. crowd? How will he pitch tonight? Either way, it should be fascinating to watch.

The Nationals, who have Michael Soroka on the mound, made a roster move this afternoon. Jacob Young is officially back from the 10-day injured list and will be in tonight’s lineup, back in center field. Daylen Lile, who had his moments while up here over the last two weeks, was optioned back to Triple-A Rochester to clear the spot for Young (who will face some pressure now to be better offensively if he wants to retain his starting job long-term).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 81 degrees, wind 6 mph out to left field

Jacob Young plays his third rehab game with Double-A Harrisburg tonight, after which the Nationals will decide if he needs more time there or will be activated off the injured list, creating a whole new dilemma in their outfield.

Young has been out since crashing into the wall trying to make a catch at Camden Yards on May 17, suffering an AC sprain in his left shoulder on the play. He was deemed ready for a rehab assignment this week and began playing for Harrisburg on Tuesday. Through his first two games with the Senators, he’s 2-for-7 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. He’s back in the lineup tonight, leading off and starting in center field.

“He feels better. He’s doing well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But we want to make sure he’s completely ready to go. He’s going to get another round of at-bats today and see where he’s at.”

Though he said the No. 1 factor before activating Young is proving he’s healthy again, Martinez did acknowledge the 25-year-old is simultaneously working on his swing in an attempt to get back on track after a rough start to his season.

“I’m not going to put a timetable on it,” the manager said when asked how many more games Young needs. “We’ll just let him get ready. He’s working on some stuff as well. I’d like to see him continue to work on his swing, really get ready, so when he comes back up here he’s ready to go.”

You’re forgiven if you glanced at tonight’s lineup and didn’t recognize three of the names Davey Martinez penciled in for the second game of the Nationals’ series against the Cubs.

Alex Call? Amed Rosario? Nasim Nuñez? They sound vaguely familiar, but it feels like a while since any of them saw the field.

Indeed, none of those three players has been in the Nats lineup since May 25, the finale of their last homestand against the Giants, a full 10 days ago. Not so coincidentally, that’s the last time the team faced a left-handed opposing starter.

“Yeah, it is good to see some of these guys get a chance to play,” Martinez said with a laugh. “Our left-handed lineup has been doing really well. But these guys get an opportunity to go out there and face a lefty today, which is kind of nice.”

The Nationals had faced seven consecutive right-handed starters before tonight. And with only one exception (Riley Adams for Keibert Ruiz behind the plate Friday in Arizona), every member of the lineup in every one of those games batted left-handed.

The Nationals returned home after a week on the West Coast with high spirits. They won four of their six games against the Mariners and Diamondbacks, and now they’re about to begin a highly anticipated series with the Cubs, who own one of the best records in baseball.

And as manager Davey Martinez provided some pre-series updates on a few of his injured players, the good news kept coming as it related to their Gold Glove-caliber center fielder.

Jacob Young, who has been on the 10-day injured list since May 23 (retroactive to May 20) with a left shoulder AC sprain, officially begins a minor league rehab assignment tonight with Double-A Harrisburg. The 25-year-old was able to swing his bat and hit over the weekend, crossing off the final mark on his checklist.

So what’s the plan for Young this week?

“To play,” Martinez said. “He's been doing everything, but he finally started hitting; he felt good. The last two days, he was really taking a lot of swings. We broke it down for him as if he was playing in a game. So now he's just going to go down there and get at-bats. We'll see how he does the next few days.”

PHOENIX – Jacob Young, technically speaking, is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list today. The Nationals outfielder, of course, hasn’t been activated yet. And he won’t be activated for this weekend’s series against the Diamondbacks.

But Young appears to have cleared all hurdles in his recovery from a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder and tonight was scheduled to participate fully in all pregame drills, offering optimism he’ll be back on the active roster in short order.

“It’s going well,” he said. “I hit the last three days in a row, feeling much better. I can take a full swing again. I can do my normal work in the cage again. So I can get back to what I was doing before (the injury).”

Young, who hurt himself May 17 when he slammed into the wall at Camden Yards trying to make a leaping catch, hoped to avoid the IL stint altogether but couldn’t finish the follow-through on his swings without experiencing shoulder pain. The Nats finally conceded and placed him on the IL on May 23, backdating the transaction the maximum three days permitted.

Young has traveled with the team on this West Coast trip, participating in pregame drills but confined to the dugout during games, no easy task for the high-energy player.

SEATTLE – The Nationals hope to have Kyle Finnegan available to them for tonight’s series opener against the Mariners, but the closer’s availability was still up in the air as the team took the field this evening for pregame workouts.

Finnegan hasn’t pitched in five days due to shoulder fatigue, a seemingly minor ailment that kept him from taking the mound in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the Giants. The Nats lost Sunday’s series finale, so there was no save situation, but it appears their closer would not have been available if they held a lead in the ninth.

Finnegan, who has never spent a day on the injured list in five-plus seasons in the big leagues, expressed confidence the ailment wasn’t serious and believed by mentioning it quickly he avoided any kind of long-term problems. But he still needs to pitch in a game until anyone can say for certainty.

“I’m not going to assume anything until he goes out there and actually throws,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Right now, I have high expectations that he will be able to pitch for us today. But if he doesn’t, we’ll see where he’s at. If he’s better than he was a few days ago, that’s a good sign. If he’s not, then we’ll have to sit down and talk to him and maybe do something else.”

Finnegan was set to throw pregame during batting practice and see how his arm felt. In addition to the physical sensation in his shoulder, the Nationals planned to pay attention to his mechanics for any sign of trouble.

Though he’s sporting an impressive bruise on his upper left leg, Nationals ace MacKenzie Gore appears to be fine and doesn’t expect to miss his next scheduled start.

Gore was struck by a 101.4 mph comebacker off Willy Adames’ bat in the top of the second Friday night, and though he went on to complete the play and pitch six scoreless innings against the Giants, the leg stiffened up on him by the top of the seventh. After Gore issued a leadoff walk to Jung Hoo Lee and then two straight balls to Matt Chapman, manager Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard came to the mound to check on him and convinced him to depart the game.

One day later, the left-hander appears to be fine, if admittedly still a little sore.

“He’s got a nice bruise, but he’s fine,” Martinez said. “I talked to him. He said he’ll be good.”

Gore was able to pitch an additional five innings after getting hit by the line drive by using heat on his leg while the Nats were batting, keeping it warm. But on an unseasonably cool late-May night, he couldn’t keep it warm all the way into the seventh and reached a point where his leg felt dead.

For the second straight day, a top outfield prospect is making his major league debut for the Nationals after one of the team’s young Opening Day regulars landed on the injured list.

Only 24 hours following Robert Hassell III’s first big league game, Daylen Lile is set to take the field for the first time, the 22-year-old promoted from Triple-A Rochester this afternoon when Jacob Young was placed on the 10-day IL with a sprained left shoulder.

Lile, a second-round pick in the 2021 Draft, has been touted by scouts and club officials alike for several years but was previously hampered by injuries and only reached Triple-A three weeks ago. After tearing up the International League to the tune of a .361/.432/.514 slash line in 18 games, though, he got the call to come to D.C.

How did Lile make it up the organizational ladder so fast?

“Just staying true to myself, staying consistent, staying on my routine,” he said, “knowing that I could possibly make my debut at some point this season. Everywhere I went, my feet were there, and I tried not to rush anything. But, I mean, it came a lot quicker than I thought.”

The Nationals, suddenly, are flying high. After suffering a seven-game losing streak just last week, they’ve now won six of their last seven, including five straight entering tonight’s weekend series opener against the Giants. And for the second night in a row, they’ve got a touted young outfielder set to make his major league debut.

One night after Robert Hassell III got the spotlight, Daylen Lile now joins him. With Jacob Young placed on the 10-day injured list with an AC sprain in his left shoulder, Lile got the call from Triple-A Rochester (where he was slashing .361/.432/.514 in only 18 games since his promotion from Double-A Harrisburg). The club’s second-round pick in the 2021 Draft, he’s young but an exciting player who hits and runs well.

MacKenzie Gore gets the ball for the Nationals, seeking a far more efficient outing than his last one. Despite allowing only two runs to the Orioles, Gore gave up 10 hits and two walks while striking out nine and threw a whopping 102 pitches in only 3 2/3 innings. After the bullpen needed to go 6 1/3 innings Thursday night in the 8-7 win over the Braves, the Nats need length out of Gore tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind 14 mph left to right field

GIANTS
LF Heliot Ramos
CF Jung Hoo Lee
3B Matt Chapman
DH Wilmer Flores
SS Willy Adames
1B Casey Schmitt
RF Mike Yastrzemski
C Patrick Bailey
2B Tyler Fitzgerald

A doctor’s review of the MRI taken on Dylan Crews confirmed the club’s initial diagnosis of a left oblique strain, but manager Davey Martinez could not offer anything resembling a timetable for the Nationals rookie to return.

Crews, who already had been dealing with a sore lower back and left side for about a week, experienced additional pain on a check-swing attempt in the fifth inning Tuesday night against the Braves. He was placed on the 10-day injured list the following afternoon, with top outfield prospect Robert Hassell III called up from Triple-A Rochester to take his roster spot.

The timetable for oblique strains varies from player to player and based on the severity of each injury. Nationals first baseman/designated hitter Andrés Chaparro suffered a left oblique strain during batting practice March 14 prior to a spring training game and tonight is finally beginning a rehab assignment with Rochester after going 4-for-15 with a double and a homer in five rehab games for the Nats’ rookie-level Florida Complex League team.

Asked how Crews’ injury compares to Chaparro’s ailment, Martinez redirected his answer to compliment Crews’ physical and mental makeup.

“I’ll be honest with you: When I played, I didn’t even know what an oblique was,” the manager said. “Every guy is different. He’s a very strong kid, I know that. He’s going to work diligently to get back as soon as possible. But we want to make sure that when he does come back, this doesn’t become a problem for him. Hopefully sooner than later, but we’re going to give him as much time as he needs to get him ready.”

Despite some initial hopes he’d be ready to return tonight, Jacob Young won’t be in the lineup for the Nationals’ series opener against the Braves.

Davey Martinez had penciled Young into his lineup, three days after the center fielder slammed into the wall at Camden Yards trying to make a catch and injured his left shoulder. But that was contingent upon Young making it through afternoon workouts with no issues, and it turns out there was one issue.

“He said he couldn’t finish his swing,” Martinez said. “We’ll give him another day, see how he does. But he can do everything else.”

Young tried to take swings in the cage this afternoon but still felt his shoulder on his follow-through, unable to fully extend his left arm as far as he would need to after making contact. While that’s enough of a problem to keep him from playing tonight, the Nats don’t believe it’s significant enough to have any longer-term concerns.

“I think he’ll be OK,” Martinez said. “He said he’s way better today than he was yesterday and the day before. So we’ll give him a day, see how he feels.”

BALTIMORE – He’s not in today’s lineup, but Jacob Young appears to be fine after a scary collision with the center field wall Saturday afternoon that left him on the ground in pain for several minutes.

Young found out after the game X-rays on his left shoulder were negative, and the Nationals outfielder also passed concussion tests. He’s sore, but he should be available to come off the bench this afternoon if his team needs him.

“It’s awesome,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I went back and looked at it: He hit the wall hard. I was kind of concerned he might have hurt his shoulder, or anything, or even come up with a concussion. But he’s a tough kid, as we all know, and he feels good.”

Young was trying to track down Ramón Laureano’s seventh-inning drive to deep center when he slammed into the Camden Yards wall and fell to the ground as Laureano raced into second base with an RBI double. He lay on the ground for several minutes as Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard went to check on him. After a lengthy conversation, he was able to get up to his feet and walk off the field under his own power.

“It just knocked the air out of me when it first happened,” Young said. “That was my initial reaction: You just can’t breathe. It’s a scary feeling.”

BALTIMORE – Rarely have the Nationals had the opportunity to beat a team when it’s down. And given his close friendship with now former Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, Davey Martinez probably took little pleasure in rubbing salt in Baltimore’s wounds this afternoon.

But there was a game to play regardless, and the Nats made the most of the opportunity presented to them, bursting out of the gates to score six quick runs in the top of the first, take a big lead early and cruise to a 10-6 victory at Camden Yards that only looked moderately close because of a four-run rally in the bottom of the ninth against Zach Brzykcy.

Behind their first big offensive showing against an opposing starter in more than a week, and behind a no-nonsense start from Jake Irvin, the Nationals enjoyed a rare lopsided win and put themselves in position to try to sweep the struggling Orioles in Sunday’s series finale.

"Obviously, we're taking one win at a time, but the vibes are good right now," designated hitter Josh Bell said. "We have to attack starters. We have to get into their bullpen early. When we do that, good things happen. Hopefully, this is a turn in the right direction."

The lone negative development on this 84-degree late afternoon? Jacob Young injured his left shoulder slamming into the center field wall trying to make a difficult catch in the bottom of the seventh and had to depart the game.

Already possessing an impressive 9-6 record at home against high-quality opponents, the Nationals entered today’s finale against the Mets looking to put the cherry on top of an encouraging homestand.

With two dramatic, come-from-behind wins over the weekend, they had already secured at least a split of this four-game, wraparound series. But one more win, ideally without needing late-inning rallies, would give them three victories in four games against the team with the best record in baseball.

Unfortunately, the Nats fell behind again. And unlike Friday and Sunday, there were no theatrics in this 19-5 blowout loss to the Mets in front of an announced crowd of 14,011 on a sunny afternoon in the District.

“It was a good game til it wasn't,” manager Davey Martinez said after the loss. “The bullpen came in and had a rough day today. But we had our chances early offensively. Just once again, as I always say, when we chase, nothing good comes out of it. So we got to stop chasing, especially with guys on base. We gotta get good pitches to hit. When we do that, we're pretty good.”

The Nationals' offense, which combined to score 13 runs and collect 29 hits over the first three games, once again had no issues creating scoring chances. But the bats looked more like the ones that were shut out 2-0 on Saturday instead of the ones that put up hard-fought rallies Friday and Sunday.

About 2 ½ years ago, Cole Henry’s career in professional baseball faced a major setback. After thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August 2022, the idea of him pitching again came into serious question. And his chances of making the major leagues with the Nationals were slim-to-none.

But the right-hander continued to work his way back, trying to overcome a procedure that had consumed the careers of Stephen Strasburg, Will Harris, Matt Harvey and others.

One thing Henry had going for him was his age. He was only 23 when he had the surgery, so he had more time to recover his body, which hadn’t yet been worn down by numerous professional seasons. That also meant, however, he had a whole career ahead of him that could possibly be taken away before it ever really started.

Henry wouldn’t let it.

After years of rehab and carefully planned pitching schedules, Henry finally got the call to the majors this past weekend and made his big league debut Sunday against the Marlins.

MIAMI – The Nationals rotation is set for this weekend, with Mitchell Parker, Trevor Williams and MacKenzie Gore lined up to face the Marlins. Then, Jake Irvin will be ready to start Monday’s series opener in Pittsburgh. But by Tuesday, manager Davey Martinez will need a fifth starter.

That fifth spot was reserved for Michael Soroka, the right-hander who signed a one–year, $9 million contract with the Nats over the offseason. But the 27-year-old was placed on the 15-day injured list on April 4 (backdated to April 1) with a right biceps strain after leaving his season debut following his third pitch of the sixth inning in Toronto.

Soroka was charged with five hits, four runs, one walk and three strikeouts in his five-plus innings against the Blue Jays. And although landing on the IL this early in the season is never a good thing, the Nats believed he wouldn’t be down for long.

He played catch on Tuesday back at Nationals Park, and while he felt good, the Nats do have to build him back up before he can be ready to return to game action again.

“He threw the other day. He said he felt good,” Martinez said during his pregame media session ahead of the series opener against the Marlins. “So we just got to build him back up now. So hopefully, we get him back soon.”

After the Nationals started 1-6, they have won four of their last five games. Winning cures all. Spirits are high.

But the Nats do find themselves with one problem. Don’t worry, it’s a good one to have.

There is a bit of an outfield conundrum forming in the Nats dugout, thanks to a scorching-hot start from Alex Call.

Call made the Opening Day roster as the fourth outfielder coming off the bench. Manager Davey Martinez announced early in spring training he was going to run out James Wood in left field, Jacob Young in center and rookie Dylan Crews in right on a daily basis to start the season.

But Crews struggled out of the gate, going hitless in his first 19 at-bats. Then Young was given a reset over the weekend after frustrations started to mount following his 1-for-15 start over his first eight games.

If Jacob Young was going to lose playing time this season, it figured to be in favor of Robert Hassell III, the Nationals prospect who seemed on the cusp of debuting in the big leagues following a great spring. Two weeks in, though, Young has lost playing time. Not because of Hassell, but because of Alex Call.

Call today finds himself in the Nats lineup for the fifth straight game, the seventh time in eight games. The 30-year-old has been torrid at the plate, going 8-for-18 with two doubles, four RBIs and four walks, while also playing solid defense in both right and left fields.

Young, on the other hand, is still trying to find his stroke at the plate. He opened the season 1-for-15 with three walks, though he did return to start Tuesday night and went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Nevertheless, the 25-year-old Gold Glove Award finalist is sitting this afternoon for the fifth time in seven games, turning the daily process of filling out the lineup card a bit more complicated than expected.

“It’s not really complicated, because we still want to work with Jacob on some things, even though he did do better yesterday,” manager Davey Martinez insisted. “We want to get him right. Alex is swinging the bat really, really well, so he’s getting an opportunity to play here a little more. But as I’ve said before, Jacob’s going to be back in there playing center field. He’s going to play a lot of center field.”

CJ Abrams is out of the Nationals lineup a second straight day with an upper right leg ailment, but the shortstop expressed confidence he’ll be back “very soon.”

Abrams didn’t play Monday night’s series opener against the Dodgers, with manager Davey Martinez revealing his shortstop had complained of thigh tightness stemming from the final play of Sunday’s win over the Diamondbacks, in which he charged in to field a grounder and then threw off-balance to first base.

Abrams today referred to his ailment as “kind of a hip flexor thing,” saying it’s not a problem with his thigh. He didn’t seem concerned about it forcing him to miss anything more than a few days.

“It wasn’t anything specific. I just kind of felt it after (the last play Sunday),” he said. “Just took a couple days off, and I should be back out there soon.”

Abrams did take ground balls this afternoon and was planning to take batting practice in the cage prior to this evening’s game. There’s a chance he could come off the bench if needed, but it sounds more likely he returns to the lineup for Wednesday’s series finale or Friday’s series opener in Miami.