NEW YORK – Having caught the first two games of the Nationals’ weekend series against the Mets, with a day game for the finale of a three-city, 10-game trip that includes no off-days, Keibert Ruiz seemed to be a safe bet to find himself on the bench Sunday at Citi Field.

The young catcher knew that’s what Davey Martinez’s intention would be when devising lineups for the series. So he took a proactive approach and walked into the manager’s office after Saturday night’s game and said he wanted to start the following afternoon.

Martinez, knowing Ruiz had taken a foul ball off his mask during the game, said he needed an honest answer if he was feeling well enough to do it. But when Ruiz insisted he was, Martinez didn’t hesitate to rewrite his lineup card and give the 24-year-old the opportunity to play again.

“I’ve had Willson Contreras (in Chicago), who caught every day. I watched (Yadier) Molina catch every day, (Ivan Rodriguez) catch every day,” Martinez said. “I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt, see how he reacts today and we’ll go from there. I did tell him: ‘You will get a day off here in the next couple days.’ But I love the fact that he wanted to play today.”

Martinez loved it even more when Ruiz proceeded to collect three hits and call another strong game behind the plate in the Nationals’ 7-1 win over the Mets.

NEW YORK – More observations and reactions from Friday night’s 7-3 loss to the Mets …

* Victor Robles had another Victor Robles kind of game. Which is to say he was involved in a number of notable plays, some of them producing positive results, some of them producing negative ones.

Positive: Robles led off the top of the third with a triple to right-center, only his second of the season and only the 10th of his career. He then wound up scoring moments later when Mets catcher Tomas Nido tried to pick him off third on a dropped third strike to Lane Thomas, only to throw the ball away ad allow both Robles to score and Thomas to reach first base on a strikeout.

“A very risky play,” Robles said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “But he took the risk, and I took advantage of it.”

Negative: Robles broke in too quickly on Brandon Nimmo’s two-out line drive to center in the bottom of the sixth, the ball sailing over his head for an RBI triple that extended New York’s lead.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Not too long ago, Jackson Rutledge was the Nationals’ No. 1 overall prospect. A lot of promise surrounded the big first-round pick out of San Jacinto Junior College in Texas.

He made 10 starts in his first professional season, pitching to a 2-0 record, 3.13 ERA and 0.991 WHIP between rookie ball and Single-A during 2019.

Then, of course, he, like all minor leaguers, missed out during the pandemic-canceled 2020 season.

Coming into last year, Rutledge was joined by 2020 first-round pick Cade Cavalli as the Nationals’ top two prospects.

But while Cavalli quickly rose through the ranks, ultimately reaching Triple-A, Rutledge was hampered by injuries and left behind in A ball.

In years past, today’s result between the 44-86 Nationals and 49-82 Athletics would have been actually important. The finale of a three-game set between teams who have two of the worst records in the major leagues and split the first two matchups would have had draft-order implications for the following year.

But alas, the implementation of the MLB Draft lottery gives the three teams with the worst records an equal chance at next year’s No. 1 overall pick, rendering this just another getaway-day game between two bottom-feeders.

Whatever the stakes, the end result was an exciting 7-5 walk-off victory for the Nationals in 10 innings.

Who else but Joey "Four Bags" Meneses to deliver the game-winning blow?

With two runners on base in a 5-4 game in the 10th, the Nats' new slugging right fielder and No. 2 hitter stepped to the plate to hit a three-run homer for an extra-inning win.

It’s a new month, the last one of the season, which means major league rosters expand from 26 to 28 players.

The Nationals’ additions were no surprise: They officially recalled catcher Tres Barrera and right-hander Mason Thompson from Triple-A Rochester.

Barrera returns for his second stint with the Nationals this season. Over his previous time with the Nats, he hit .182 with a double, four RBIs and two walks in 14 games. 

In 55 games for Triple-A Rochester this season, Barrera hit .254 with seven doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 25 RBIs and 20 walks. He recorded a hit in all three of his starts as Rochester’s catcher since being optioned on Aug. 22.

The 27-year-old joins Keibert Ruiz and Riley Adams as the three catchers now on the Nats roster. Manager Davey Martinez will look to use some of their flexibility to get each of them an appropriate amount of playing time, with all of them able to serve as the designated hitter and Adams also able to spell Luke Voit at first base.

The Washington Nationals recalled catcher Tres Barrera and right-handed pitcher Mason Thompson from Triple-A Rochester on Thursday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Barrera, 27, returns for his second stint with the Nationals this season. He batted .182 with a double, four RBI and two walks in 14 games with Washington. In 55 games for Triple-A Rochester this season, he hit .254 with seven doubles, a triple, seven home runs, 25 RBI and 20 walks. Barrera had a hit in all three of his starts behind the plate for Rochester since being optioned on August 22.

Thompson, 24, returns for his fourth stint with the Nationals this season. He is 0-0 with a 1.13 ERA and seven strikeouts in 8.0 innings over nine games. Thompson was 0-4 with a 3.52 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15.1 innings for Triple-A Rochester this season. He made his first start for Rochester on Aug. 27 allowing one run on three hits in 2.0 innings.

Throughout this long season, from the interminably long stint on the injured list with a neck strain to his struggles on the mound once he did return, Davey Martinez insisted Aníbal Sánchez just needed time. Give the right-hander time, the manager said, and he would prove he can still pitch at this level.

So the Nationals gave Sánchez all the time he needed, from that three-month IL stint to his first five starts that resulted in five losses and a 7.56 ERA. And wouldn’t you know what happened after that? The 38-year-old indeed is proving he can still pitch at this level, capped off by his best performance in two years this evening.

With seven innings of one-run ball, Sánchez shut down the Athletics to earn his first win since September 2020 and lead the Nats to a 5-1 victory that also included some bright moments for a few of their much younger building blocks.

This represented the first time Sánchez reached the seventh inning in a big league game since Aug. 23, 2020 in a win over the Marlins. The previous time he had done it? Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS in St. Louis, when he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

"I knew he still had it in him," Martinez said. "I saw him this winter throwing. He was passionate about coming back, and his heart was in it. He was hurt, and now he's just out there fully healthy and pitching well."

Cade Cavalli officially was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation, an ailment the Nationals rookie insisted he intends to return from before season’s end.

“I’m not going to be shutting it down completely,” he said. “We’ve got something to work forward to. There’s still some season left. That’s where my head’s at. I want to go compete again this year for this club. I’m very positive, and I think it’s really good.”

Cavalli said he woke up Saturday morning feeling “some abnormal soreness” following his major league debut the previous night. He attempted to play catch that afternoon as planned, but after about 10 throws with no improvement in his condition he informed the training staff what was going on. He underwent an MRI on Sunday which revealed inflammation of his shoulder capsule, but no damage to his rotator cuff or labrum.

Manager Davey Martinez said the 24-year-old right-hander will be shut down for two weeks, after which the club will decide how to proceed. Cavalli is cleared to do everything but throw during this period of time, and he went through rigorous workouts focused on his legs and his back the last two days.

Even in a best-case scenario, there doesn’t seem to be much time for Cavalli to make it back to start before the season ends five weeks from today. But Martinez wants him to stay busy and proceed with a mindset that he will pitch by then, and Cavalli himself is adamant that’s what he intends to do, not shut down until 2023.

It’s the final day of August, a month that began with the biggest trade in Nationals history and will conclude with another dismal record. The Nats enter tonight’s game 8-18 this month. It’s not as bad as their 6-19 mark from July, but it’s barely better than that.

You know who would love to get a win tonight? Aníbal Sánchez. The 38-year-old is 0-5 with a 5.72 ERA in eight starts, but he’s actually pitched much better of late. Over his last three starts (all no-decisions), he’s got a 2.51 ERA while holding opponents to a .180 batting average. You’d think a matchup against an Athletics lineup that is among the worst in baseball would be advantageous, but that didn’t prove to be the case for Erick Fedde on Tuesday.

The Nats get their first-ever look at James Kaprielian, Oakland’s 28-year-old right-hander who was originally a first-round pick of the Yankees and then got roughed up by them in his last start to the tune of eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. Kaprielian has a command problem; he’s walked 10 batters over his last 7 2/3 innings. Patience from a sometimes overanxious Nationals lineup will be key tonight.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 81 degrees, wind 9 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Lane Thomas
SS CJ Abrams
3B Ildemaro Vargas
LF Josh Palacios

Tuesday’s news about Cade Cavalli, who is going on the injured list and could be done for the season with right shoulder inflammation, was incredibly discouraging for the Nationals.

Now here’s an even more discouraging thought: What if Cavalli’s injury prompts the team to shut down MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray before season’s end as well?

That’s certainly on the table, when you consider what Davey Martinez said when asked if the Cavalli situation might make the club more cautious about handling its two other young starters the rest of the way.

“Yeah, we’re going to look at all that stuff,” he said, later adding: “We’re going to spend the next few weeks just watching these guys, watching them progress, and see where we’re at.”

There are concerns about all three of them, for varying reasons.

Bad news struck the Nationals clubhouse this afternoon ahead of the opener against the Athletics. Making matters worse, it involves one of their top prospects.

Cade Cavalli, just four days removed from his major league debut, will be shut down for two weeks with right shoulder inflammation, manager Davey Martinez announced to begin his pregame press conference.

Cavalli was charged with seven runs on six hits, two walks and three hit batters while striking out seven and throwing 99 pitches (57 strikes) in his highly anticipated debut Friday against the Reds. When the 24-year-old returned to Nats Park the next day to begin his between-starts program, he reported tightness in his right shoulder. The Nationals stopped him from throwing and ordered an MRI the next day.

“I'm gonna start off by saying that we are going to shut Cade down for two weeks,” Martinez said. “He threw in the game. Came back the next day, was going through his routine, he's playing catch. After about 10 throws, he said he felt tight in the shoulder area. So we shut him down. He came in, we got him an MRI right away.”

The MRI came back mostly clean. There was no damage to the shoulder itself, but there was some inflammation.

CJ Abrams has never struggled to hit. Not as a teenager, when he was named Georgia High School Player of the Year. Not as a first-time professional, when he hit .401 in 32 games with the Padres’ rookie ball team in Arizona. Not last season at Double-A, where he had a .363 on-base percentage in 42 games before suffering a leg injury. And not this season at Triple-A, where he posted an .840 OPS in 38 games.

Twelve games into his Nationals career, though, Abrams’ offensive struggles are hard to ignore. He’s just 6-for-44 so far, good for a .136 batting average. He has zero extra base hits. He has yet to draw a walk. He has yet to score a run. He has struck out 12 times.

Extremely small sample, yes. But if you’ve been watching and wondering where the highly touted prospect’s offensive game is, you’re not alone.

“At times, you can see he gets a little frustrated,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And I have to reiterate: ‘Hey, you’re doing fine.’ ”

As he’s done with countless other young players struggling to get going at the plate, Martinez makes sure to mention how he hit .139 in 53 games as a rookie with the Cubs in 1986. He went on to have a long and productive career, finishing with a .276/.341/.389 slash line and 1,599 hits across 16 major league seasons.

Would you believe there are only 34 games remaining in the 2022 season? (Some of you may be thinking right now: That's 34 games too many.) We haven't quite reached the home stretch yet, but we are down to the final 20 percent of the regular season.

There's plenty not to look forward to as the Nationals brace for a September filled with games against NL East contenders, but there are a few things worth anticipating. Like a rotation that could feature Cade Cavalli, MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray at the same time for at least a couple of weeks. A middle infield combo of CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia. The unexpected emergence of Joey Meneses and Ildemaro Vargas, who one month ago were nobodies and now are the Nats' two most productive position players.

The team will get back to work Tuesday night when the Athletics come to town for the first time, believe it or not, since 2005 at RFK Stadium. In the meantime, let's take some time to answer your questions. If you've got something to ask, type it up in the comments section below. Then check back for my replies throughout the morning ...

In a lost season, the Nationals bullpen has been the one bright spot to consistently point to on this roster. It undoubtedly has been this team’s strength.

But all strengths have weak days from time to time.

Today was one of those times as a tied ballgame between the Nats and Reds quickly became a 6-2 loss for the home team after Jake McGee gave up two longballs in relief of Paolo Espino in the sixth inning.

Espino was having an efficient outing for much of the night. Often plagued this season by the inability to put away hitters with two strikes and often with two outs, the Nats starter had put up four zeros through his first five innings. The only blemish being a solo homer by Kyle Farmer on a 1-2 slider with two outs in the first.

Entering the sixth having thrown just 76 pitches, Espino was looking to complete six frames for the first time since Sept. 13, 2021 against the Marlins. But a single and a double (both coming in two-strike counts) put two runners in scoring position and Espino on the ropes with one out.

Now that the dust has settled from Cade Cavalli’s major league debut, the Nationals turn their attention to trying to win this series against the Reds. They need to bounce back tonight after last night’s loss.

Paolo Espino makes his fifth career appearance against the Reds tonight, but just his first away from Cincinnati. He’s 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA over his one start and three relief appearances against Cincy. 

Espino will not only be looking for his first win of the season, but he will also be looking to snap the Nats’ streak of 42 consecutive games without the starting pitcher earning a victory.

Luis Cessa brings a 3-2 record and 5.67 ERA to the mound for the Reds. He’s only made two starts in his 38 appearances this season and only combined to pitch three innings over those two starts, setting up a possible bullpen game. Cessa has a 5.79 ERA over four career relief appearances against the Nats.

CINCINNATI REDS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left-center field 

The Nationals announced two minor, but noteworthy, roster moves before their second game of this weekend series against the Reds.

Yadiel Hernandez was transferred to the 60-day injured list, ending his season while he still recovers from a left calf strain. He was placed on the 10-day IL on Aug. 20 (retroactive to Aug. 19), but his calf was not healing at a rate in which the team thought he could be ready to play in any of the remaining 35 games.

So the Nationals decided to shut down the 34-year-old outfielder so he can start getting ready for next year.

“He's had a calf, and from past experience with these calves, it's going to take a little bit longer than we anticipated,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame press conference. “But those calves, you gotta be really careful. So we didn't think that he was going to be ready in time. 

“What I'd like to see is that when Yadi leaves here for this winter that he's completely healthy. That he's running without all the baseball (things), but that he's running full tilt, can do some outfield stuff. This way he doesn't have to go home and worry about that. He just could have a normal winter and get ready for spring training.”

It did not come with the fanfare and electricity of Stephen Strasburg’s major league debut on the same mound in 2010.

There were not 40,315 fans on their feet for the duration of the game. There was no national audience nor local news channel cameras packing the press box.

And the end result was certainly not the same.

No, Cade Cavalli’s major league debut was not the second coming of Strasmas. But it was the first wave of the Nationals’ top prospects reaching the major leagues, and a significant sign of what they’re trying to accomplish with this rebuild.

Cavalli didn’t match Strasburg’s incredible 14-strikeout performance on June 8, 2010. But no one expected him to, and the Nationals didn’t need him to repeat that.

They watched Cade Cavalli take the mound at 7:05 p.m. on a muggy August evening in the nation’s capital with the kind of anticipation that only comes when a highly rated pitching prospect makes his major league debut.

And when he departed 93 minutes later, all anyone in attendance at Nationals Park could do was feel some mixed combination of emotions.

Clearly, there were things to like about Cavalli’s debut, most notably the fact he struck out six of the first 16 Reds batters he faced. And clearly, there were things to be concerned about regarding the 4 1/3-inning start, namely the seven runs that were charged to him as he struggled mightily to command his repertoire while he sweated buckets on the mound.

It will be some time before we can look back at this 7-3 loss to Cincinnati and say definitively whether it presaged what was to come for Cavalli, or whether it was an insignificant blip to begin a standout career. Suffice it to say, there weren’t a whole lot of conclusions to draw from this, except to note the 24-year-old right-hander obviously has the stuff to get big league hitters out … but only when he commands it well.

Over the course of his 99-pitch debut, Cavalli threw just 57 strikes. Some of his misses were close, with all credit going to the Reds for not chasing after them. But a good number of them didn’t come anywhere close to the strike zone, especially the three errant curveballs that plunked opposing right-handed hitters.

Happy Cade Cavalli Day to all who celebrate!

The Nationals made it official by selecting the contract of their top pitching prospect for his major league debut, one of several roster moves made before tonight’s series opener against the Reds.

When the 2020 first-round pick takes the mound at Nats Park, he will become the 24th pitcher drafted, signed and developed by the Nationals (2005-present) to start a game for Washington.

Cavalli is the No. 52 prospect in all of baseball, according to Baseball America, and No. 58 according to MLB Pipeline. He leads qualified Nationals minor leaguers with a .215 opponents’ batting average and ranks second in ERA (3.71), strikeouts (104) and WHIP (1.18). He went 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA in 20 starts for Triple-A Rochester this season.

More recently, the 24-year-old has been nothing short of dominant. Over his last seven starts, Cavalli went 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA, 43 strikeouts, 12 walks and a .180 opponents’ batting average. He didn’t allow an earned run in 15 ⅔ consecutive innings, recording 16 strikeouts and three walks in three starts from July 6 to July 27. In his last two starts with the Red Wings, Cavalli struck out 19 batters, allowing just five walks to go along with a 1.50 ERA and a .128 opponents’ batting average (5-for-39).