Riley Adams knows the drill at this point. With Keibert Ruiz healthy and productive, and with plenty of off-days built into the Nationals schedule throughout April, there simply aren’t going to be many playing opportunities for the team’s backup catcher.

Adams today starts for only the fourth time in 28 games to begin the season. Ruiz has started the other 24, the most games played by any catcher in the majors to date.

If you’re looking for someone to complain about the arrangement, you’re not going to get it.

“There’s no awkwardness whatsoever,” Adams said. “We both have jobs to do. We both want to win games. We both want to get our pitchers through games and put zeros on the scoreboard. To me, it doesn’t matter who’s catching. We’re a collective.”

Adams has been through this for more than three seasons now. From 2022-24, he played between 41-48 games, taking between 130-158 plate appearances.

CJ Abrams should be back at Nationals Park on Thursday. Then, it’s just a question of whether the team will activate their All-Star shortstop off the 10-day injured list in time for their series finale against the Orioles or will wait for Friday’s series opener against the Mets.

Abrams, who has a right hip flexor strain, played his second rehab game today for Double-A Harrisburg, completing all nine innings while taking four plate appearances. This after he played six innings in the field Tuesday night and took three plate appearances.

His total offensive stats over these two games: 0-for-4 with two walks, a strikeout and a sacrifice fly.

“I think they were a little scared to pitch to him,” right-hander Michael Soroka, who pitched Tuesday as part of his own rehab assignment with Harrisburg, said with a laugh.

Of far more consequence than Abrams’ production was his ability to play 15 innings in less than 24 hours without any apparent physical issues.

The Nationals can now start counting down the days until CJ Abrams returns to their lineup. But first, the All-Star shortstop needs to prove he’s good to go in a rehab assignment.

Abrams is playing tonight for Double-A Harrisburg, his first game action since aggravating his right hip flexor April 11 in Miami. He’s technically eligible to come off the 10-day injured list now, but the Nats wanted him to get some reps in the minor leagues before activating him.

“I’d like to get him on his feet, get him some at-bats and make sure he’s OK,” manager Davey Martinez said. “The last time he felt it was on the field, so we want to get him out there and let him play shortstop. And if it takes a day or two or three, then we’ll prepare for that. But hopefully he comes out today feeling good and not bothering him.”

Abrams is slated to play six innings at shortstop tonight and take at least three at-bats, with the possibility of more if he feels up for more. The Nationals would love to have him back in their lineup before the end of this week’s series against the Orioles, but they won’t rush it if he doesn’t look ready.

Nasim Nuñez has excelled in the field in Abrams’ place, to nobody’s surprise. But the 24-year-old infielder doesn’t provide nearly the offensive punch as the man ahead of him on the depth chart. In seven games since taking over as the everyday shortstop, Nunez is batting .182 (4-for-22) with three walks and two stolen bases.

DENVER – The Nationals arrived in Colorado a battered and bruised team. There are 11 players currently on the injured list, four of them having been sidelined since the season began.

The good news: They’re finally getting closer to bringing guys back to the active roster instead of losing them.

CJ Abrams and Michael Soroka, in particular, are making good progress in their respective recoveries.

Abrams, out since April 12 with a right hip flexor strain, has stayed with the team on this road trip and has been rehabbing with his teammates. The All-Star shortstop has begun hitting and continues to take grounders, though there are still a few steps remaining for him.

Abrams is eligible to come off the 10-day IL for Tuesday’s homestand opener against the Orioles. There appears to be a chance he’ll be ready for that series.

PITTSBURGH – DJ Herz had Tommy John surgery today, officially sidelining the Nationals left-hander for the 2025 season after three weeks spent hoping the major elbow procedure would not be necessary.

Herz had his elbow ligament replaced by orthopedist Keith Meister in Dallas, according to manager Davey Martinez. He did not get the additional internal brace procedure some pitchers, including teammate Josiah Gray, have opted for in recent years.

Today’s news came three weeks after Herz landed on the 60-day injured list with a sprained ligament, an ailment he reported after the Nationals initially optioned him to Triple-A Rochester following a disappointing spring in which his velocity was down. The 24-year-old sought opinions from three doctors, hoping one of them would offer him the option to come back via rest and rehab only, but there was consensus on the need for surgery.

“Have hope. Have faith,” Herz wrote on his Instagram account below a photo of him in a hospital bed following today’s surgery. “The only easy day is yesterday. Believe in something you can’t see. Buckle down and keep believing.”

Acquired from the Cubs in July 2023 for Jeimer Candelario, Herz had been one of the pleasant surprises of the 2024 season, posting a 4.19 ERA and 106 strikeouts over 88 2/3 innings while authoring some of the Nats’ most dominant starts of the year.

PITTSBURGH – One day after lamenting a lack of “intensity” from his beleaguered relief corps, Nationals manager Davey Martinez summoned the entire group to his office for a pump-you-up meeting prior to tonight’s game against the Pirates.

The message of that session?

“I just wanted to let them know it’s early,” Martinez said. “We’ve only played 10 percent of our games. We’ve still got 90 percent of our games left. … I just want them to stay positive, keep their heads up. We’ve got a lot of baseball left.”

Nationals relievers entered the day with a 6.91 ERA and 1.921 WHIP, both worst in the majors by a healthy amount. Each of the last two days, they’ve turned winnable games into blowouts, surrendering a combined seven runs over 5 2/3 innings.

After Monday’s 10-3 loss, Martinez noted there needs to be more intensity shown from some relievers when entering a close game, even if the team is trailing by a couple of runs. Today, he decided to bring the entire group together, offering his own thoughts but also opening the floor for the pitchers themselves to speak up.

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.”

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.

The Nationals will wait a couple of days before deciding who will take Michael Soroka’s place in the rotation, with Brad Lord a distinct option if the rookie isn’t needed out of the bullpen before then.

Soroka was supposed to start Sunday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks but was placed on the 15-day injured list today (backdated to April 1) with a right biceps strain. The 27-year-old made his debut Monday night in Toronto but had to be pulled three pitches into the sixth inning when his biceps muscle cramped while delivering a slider.

Soroka was cautiously optimistic at the time the injury wasn’t serious and that he’d be able to take his next turn in the rotation. The one caveat: He needed to be able to throw off a mound first before knowing he would be good to go.

That bullpen session never happened. According to manager Davey Martinez, Soroka played catch Wednesday in Toronto and reported afterward he still felt a twinge of discomfort in his upper arm.

“He said he just barely could feel it,” Martinez said. “But when a pitcher says he can barely feel it in his arm, I don’t like it. I think the best thing is to get it to calm down a little bit and get him ready to come back out again.”

The Nationals have placed Michael Soroka on the 15-day injured list with a right biceps strain, throwing a wrench into the team’s rotation plans just one week into the season.

Jackson Rutledge was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take Soroka’s roster spot, but the 2019 first-round pick has made the full-time conversion to reliever, so he won’t be joining the big league rotation.

Soroka, signed this winter to a one-year, $9 million contract, made his club debut Monday night in Toronto, allowing four runs over five-plus innings. He felt fine physically until his 83rd pitch the game, a spiked slider in the bottom of the sixth, after which he looked toward the dugout and began clenching his fist.

Soroka told manager Davey Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard his right biceps muscle had cramped on that pitch, and he was taken out of the game. Afterward, he expressed optimism the injury wasn’t any more serious than that and was hopeful he could still make his next turn in the rotation.

Soroka did admit he would need to throw off a mound before knowing for sure he was good to go. He played catch prior to Wednesday’s series finale against the Blue Jays and would have been on track to throw a bullpen session either Thursday (an off-day for the team) or today. The Nationals had listed him as their starter for Sunday’s series finale against the Diamondbacks.

There’s only so much you can take away from the first six games of a new year. But dang it, we will try.

The Nationals’ first week of the 2025 season hasn’t gone totally according to plan. Their 1-5 record doesn’t look good on paper. But digging a little deeper, you start to see some positives they can hold their hats on.

Here are some observations from the Nats’ first week of play …

KEIBERT RUIZ IS HOT
Ruiz’s struggles in 2024 are well known. After he missed a lot of time early in the season with the flu and lost almost 20 pounds, he never fully recovered. He finished the year with a .229 average, .619 OPS, 13 home runs and 57 RBIs in 127 games last year, producing just 0.6 bWAR.

This year, he looks to be in much better shape and it’s paying off.

TORONTO – The Nationals are listing Michael Soroka as their scheduled starter for Sunday’s game against the Diamondbacks, suggesting the right-hander won’t have to miss any time after departing his season debut with a biceps cramp.

Soroka came out of Monday night’s game against the Blue Jays after spiking a slider to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the sixth, his 83rd pitch of the outing. He immediately looked to the dugout and began clinching his fist.

Whatever initial fears the Nats may have had about a potentially serious injury were alleviated when Soroka told them his right biceps muscle cramped on that final pitch, and he didn’t want to take any chances trying to go any further in the game.

He expressed cautious optimism afterward the injury was nothing serious, with manual tests performed by the club’s medical staff revealing no issues. He did acknowledge he would need to throw off a bullpen mound first before knowing for certain he would be fine to make his next scheduled start.

Soroka wasn’t planning to throw off a mound today, merely to play catch in the outfield at Rogers Centre prior to the Nats’ series finale. If everything went well, he would likely throw his bullpen session in D.C. on Thursday (an off-day for the team) or Friday (prior to the series opener against Arizona).

TORONTO – Davey Martinez insists he planned to give Dylan Crews the night off all along. True or not, the benching comes at an appropriate time for the slumping rookie, who is still seeking his first hit of the 2025 season.

So for the Nationals’ game tonight against the Blue Jays, it’s Alex Call in right field and batting eighth, not Crews.

“Honestly, this was kind of pre-planned coming into the series,” Martinez said. “Look, it’s hard to play this game for 162 days, and I want to get everyone involved. I wanted to get Alex in there today. But it kind of worked out to give Dylan a little bit of a mental break today, get him off his feet.”

It’s been a difficult opening week for Crews, the highly touted rookie who enjoyed a good spring and looked poised to get his season started on the right foot. He’s 0-for-15 through four games, striking out 10 times (including one stretch of eight consecutive at-bats Saturday and Sunday).

Crews did make solid contact Monday, driving a ball 399 feet to the base of the wall in center field, a hit that carried an expected batting average of .820 but was nevertheless caught by Toronto’s Nathan Lukes. That one swing, though, is an anomaly during an otherwise rough start for the 23-year-old.

TORONTO – They didn’t make their season-opening rotation plans with this in mind, but the fact Michael Soroka’s debut with the Nationals came in his home country was a happy byproduct, something everyone had looked forward to for weeks.

"He's from here. He gets to pitch his first game for the Nats here in Toronto. It's awesome," manager Davey Martinez said of the Canadian right-hander (who is from Calgary). "Long time coming. He's worked hard this whole spring to get himself ready. He hasn't started in a while, but he's excited and we're excited to see him go out there and compete."

That Soroka’s homecoming wound end abruptly in the bottom of the sixth, the 27-year-old waking off the mound alongside a trainer clenching his fist after an errant pitch, turned the whole affair sour.

The Nationals lost to the Blue Jays, 5-2, in their first road game of the season. They also feared they lost their biggest offseason pitching acquisition, putting added strain on a rotation that pitched extremely well over the weekend but is suddenly razor-thin in the depth department. By night's end, there was a more encouraging outlook, with Soroka merely dealing with a biceps cramp and not something more significant.

"I think we'll be OK," he said. "It's just one those things you don't want to feel, and not something that's worth (pitching) through, especially at that point in the game and at this point in the season."

TORONTO – The Nationals’ first road trip of 2025 takes them north of the border for their biannual series at Rogers Centre, longtime home of the Blue Jays. The current wind chill here in 38 degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius). Fortunately, the roof is closed and will remain closed.

The guy on the mound tonight isn’t bothered by cold temperatures or metric conversions. Michael Soroka is from Calgary, so his Nats debut is sort of a homecoming for him, even if we’re clear on the other side of the country from his hometown. Soroka looked very good most of the spring before stumbling in his final tune-up start. The Nationals are banking on the right-hander to be a stabilizing force in their rotation. We’ll get our first real look at him tonight against a Blue Jays lineup that boasts a formidable 1-2 punch in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Anthony Santander.

The Nats lineup, which surprisingly outhomered the Phillies 6-5 in the opening series, will now try to take aim at the hitter-friendly dimensions here. They face an unfamiliar foe in Toronto right-hander Bowden Francis, who went 8-5 with a 3.30 ERA in his first full big league season. Only four members of the current Nationals roster have ever faced Francis before, and only Nathaniel Lowe has more than three plate appearances against him.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Where: Rogers Centre
Gametime: 7:07 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Nathaniel Lowe
DH Josh Bell
2B Luis García Jr.
3B Paul DeJong
RF Dylan Crews
CF Jacob Young

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Everything was going swimmingly for Michael Soroka. He had bounced back from his first rough start of the spring, completing the first four innings of tonight’s start against the Marlins on a mere 48 pitches.

And then came the top of the fifth, at which point the narrative took a sharp turn in the opposite direction.

Unable to get out of that frame, Soroka threw a whopping 43 pitches to eight batters, ultimately charged with six runs to turn what should’ve been an encouraging finale to his spring schedule into a discouraging evening.

“It was clicking really, really well for four innings. And then guys get on, and I want to kind of try to be the hero, and again just do too much,” the right-hander said following a 6-0 loss to the Marlins in which the Nationals managed only two hits themselves. “I just lose track of it for a second, then you fight back, and hits fall and things happen. You’ve got to get out of those innings and not let it snowball like that.”

This was the second straight start Soroka allowed six runs, this after back-to-back scoreless outings. There are no more exhibitions for him to pitch; his next start will count.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – There’s a bit of a chill in the air here in South Florida. OK, maybe not the kind of chill all of you back home have dealt with the last six weeks, but just enough to make this feel a little more like the kind of springtime weather we’re all going to experience soon enough when the season begins.

The Nationals play their third-to-last Grapefruit League game this evening, hosting the Marlins. All of the contenders for spots in the rotation have run out of time to make their cases, so these remaining starts will all go to guys guaranteed to make the team. That includes Michael Soroka, who tonight will look to bounce back from his first (and only) shaky start of the spring.

The rotation question may have resolved itself at this point, but there are still several other jobs up for grabs during these final days. So these remain important games for the backup catchers, potential bench players and the relievers fighting for the two open slots on the Opening Day roster.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, West Palm Beach
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: None
Radio: MLB.com (Marlins’ feed)
Weather: Clear, 66 degrees, wind 12 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
LF James Wood
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
2B Amed Rosario
3B José Tena
C Riley Adams
CF Jacob Young

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The frustration was palpable in Michael Soroka’s body language and in his words. This may have been one spring training start from a veteran with a guaranteed spot in the Nationals’ Opening Day rotation, but it wasn’t at all what Soroka had in mind when he took the mound this afternoon.

“I just couldn’t make an adjustment,” the right-hander said after four laborious innings during an 11-5 loss to the Rays. “I didn’t make it early enough. I didn’t find it until it was too late. That’s unacceptable.”

Soroka’s nightmare afternoon started from the get-go. He walked the first three batters he faced, the last of them on four pitches to warrant a mound visit from pitching coach Jim Hickey.

He managed to right his ship enough to get out of the inning with two runs across, but the struggles continued throughout his outing. He finished with six walks surrendered, a far cry from the one free pass he issued in his previous two Grapefruit League starts combined.

The problem: Mechanics. Soroka knew he was off, but he simply couldn’t figure out how to get his body and arm back on track as the start progressed. That, more than anything, is what bothered him.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – It’s going to be a long day at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, where the Nationals play twice. Later this afternoon (5:05 p.m., to be precise), the organization’s top prospects take on the Mets’ top prospects in the Spring Breakout game (televised live on MASN). But first up, it’s the regular Grapefruit League game of the day, this one against a split-squad group from the Rays.

Michael Soroka gets the start, and it’s only the third time he’s officially pitched this spring. He has also, for the record, twice thrown to live hitters on a back field or in the cage, so his arm is built up just as it normally would be at this point in the spring. The right-hander has looked good wherever he’s pitched, allowing just one run on four hits, striking out nine while walking only one over seven official innings.

Davey Martinez has many of his regulars in the lineup, including the fearsome threesome of CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews and James Wood atop the order. Nathaniel Lowe is batting cleanup while his brother, Josh, bats third for the visiting Rays.

Kyle Finnegan and Derek Law are also scheduled to pitch out of the bullpen this afternoon for the Nats, the primary relievers starting to get more regular work as the final week of camp arrives. This will be Law's long awaited spring debut.

UPDATE: Lineup change for the Nats, with Andrew Knizner now catching in place of Riley Adams, who was scratched about 90 minutes before first pitch.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – With 11 days to go in spring training, seven starting pitchers competing for five jobs and a rare, cross-state, overnight trip looming, mapping out the Nationals’ rotation schedule is no simple task for manager Davey Martinez and pitching coach Jim Hickey. They finally settled on a plan this morning, one that takes all of those factors into consideration.

MacKenzie Gore is starting this afternoon’s game against the Astros. It’s only his second official start of the spring, but the left-hander has still been throwing every five days, whether on a back field against minor leaguers or in a simulated game against teammates.

While Gore faces Houston inside CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches, Trevor Williams is facing minor leaguers outside the stadium. The veteran right-hander, who Martinez confirmed this week will open the season in the rotation, has already made three Grapefruit League appearances.

DJ Herz will take the long bus ride from West Palm Beach to Port Charlotte on Thursday morning and then start that afternoon’s game against the Rays. Herz, who is competing for the fifth starter’s job, has looked shaky so far in three Grapefruit League outings, walking seven while striking out only three in 6 2/3 innings.

Jake Irvin’s turn comes up Friday, but the right-hander will stay back in West Palm Beach and face minor leaguers instead of traveling to North Port to face the Braves. That makes Friday’s game a bullpen game for the Nats, with a host of relievers set to pitch one or two innings a piece.