ATLANTA - Patrick Corbin took an exceptionally long time between pitches. He shuffled his feet, kicked some dirt and adjusted his belt ever so slowly before turning around and motioning to the second base umpire.

Something wasn’t quite right.

Corbin left with back spasms in the first inning of Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Braves after throwing just 12 pitches. After throwing a 76-mph slider high and outside to Matt Olson and fidgeting around the rubber, the lefty was greeted by manager Davey Martinez and head athletic trainer Paul Lessard.

Corbin, who leads the Nationals (51-97) in both starts and innings pitched, stretched his back before taking a slow walk to the visitors' dugout.

"He just threw a pitch and (his back) tightened up on him," Martinez said after the game. "We watched him, he started trying to stretch. We went out there and he said it just cramped up on him. ... As he was getting back on the mound, he said he couldn't get loose, so the smart thing to do is just get him out of there."

About an hour north up I-295, a rival organization provides a blueprint for the Nationals and their rebuild.

A few years ago, the Orioles began the process of rebuilding their own organization. Now they are starting to turn the tide into contention, finding themselves unexpectedly four games out of an American League wild card berth.

That path back to contention is a similar one the Nationals want to follow now that they have fully embraced their own rebuild. And perhaps reach that turning point sooner.

This week’s two-game series against the Orioles was a good chance for the Nats to measure their young players against some of the best prospects in baseball.

Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Stowers and DL Hall were all at one time ranked in multiple publications’ top 100 prospects lists. They also headlined an Orioles farm system that has been one of if not the best in the sport since executive vice president and general manager MIke Elias took over in 2018.

Luis García has excelled at his new position in the field. How will he handle a new position in the Nationals lineup?

García finds himself batting cleanup tonight for the first time in his career, penciled in by manager Davey Martinez as his No. 4 hitter for the Nats’ series opener against the Orioles.

It’s both a reflection of García's performance at the plate and the state of the rest of the lineup, which has seen Nelson Cruz struggle mightily and get bumped out of the cleanup spot, plus Keibert Ruiz land on the injured list likely for the remainder of the season.

“I wanted to try to break up our lineup with some of those righties and get him in there,” Martinez said. “He matches up well with (Orioles starter Dean Kremer) in there today. I thought we’ll give it a shot, see how he reacts to it. When he hits the ball, he hits it hard. I like the way he’s swinging the bat. So we’re going to put him at cleanup and see how he does.”

García has enjoyed a sustained stretch of success at the plate, batting .312 with four doubles, two homers, nine RBIs and an .809 OPS over his last 14 games. That coincides with his return from a minor groin strain and his move from shortstop to second base following CJ Abrams’ arrival from the Padres.

PHILADELPHIA – News and notes before the Nationals (hopefully) take the field for their series finale against the Phillies (provided the weather holds up) …

* Luis García is out of the lineup for the second straight day. Manager Davey Martinez said on Saturday the young second baseman was simply getting a breather and would be back for today’s game. But it turns out while taking swings in the cage Saturday, García didn’t feel right.

“He actually hit yesterday after we spoke, and he came up to the trainer and said his right side was sore,” Martinez said this morning. “So he got evaluated. They worked on him. I want to be extra careful, so we’ll give him today off. Then we’ve got a scheduled day off tomorrow. So we’ll see how he feels today and then tomorrow.”

With García out, the Nationals interestingly enough are having Ildemaro Vargas start at second base this afternoon, with César Hernández at third base. That’s the opposite alignment they used Saturday night, when both players were charged with throwing errors and Hernández made several other poor throws from second base.

“They’ve both played both positions,” Martinez said. “Give Vargas a day or two over at second base as well, just to see what that looks like. We’ve talked a lot about being versatile, so I want to get him over there. And César’s been playing third base well, so we just decided today we’ll switch it up.”

PHILADELPHIA – Patrick Corbin and Noah Syndergaard, at their best, were high-strikeout pitchers. Double-digit totals were regular occurrences for both starters, back when Corbin was leading the Nationals and Syndergaard was leading the Mets deep into Octobers of yesteryear.

That’s not who either guy is right now, Corbin because he’s devolved into a shell of his former self, Syndergaard because he missed considerable time with major arm injuries.

So when they faced off tonight at Citizens Bank Park, the fast-paced ballgame that ensued featured precious few strikeouts, zero walks by either starter and a whole lot of early contact by both lineups.

The Phillies managed to make more out of their contact than the Nationals did, emerging with a 5-3 victory that left Corbin to suffer his 18th loss of the season.

Corbin, who allowed five runs and a whopping 12 hits over 6 2/3 innings despite throwing only 69 pitches, is the majors’ first 18-game loser since Chris Archer and James Shields each lost 19 in 2016. Barring a change in the Nats’ rotation plans, he’s on track to make four more starts this year as he attempts to avoid becoming the sport’s first 20-game loser in nearly two decades.

ST LOUIS – There’s a line of thinking that the last kind of players who need days off are young players. Certainly, their bodies aren’t in need of regular rest.

There’s more than one reason for a day off, though. And for some young players, a mental day off can be more important than a physical one.

That’s why Davey Martinez has CJ Abrams sitting tonight, just as he did six days earlier. The Nationals rookie shortstop is fine physically, but his manager believes he would benefit from a quick break to clear his mind and focus on working on some fundamentals without the pressure of having a game to play as well.

“We’re asking him to do a lot,” Martinez said. “Even between the games, he’s getting a lot of work in. My thought is: We’ve got a day game tomorrow, give him a break today. We’ve got another lefty today (in Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery). Just giving him a little breather, and we’ll get him back out there tomorrow. …

“He’s doing great. For me, it’s just part of the process with him.”

NEW YORK – Patrick Corbin and Max Scherzer will forever be linked as rotation mates for a World Series champion, the two of them accounting for eight innings in Game 7 in Houston, but to say their respective careers have diverged since then is a gross understatement.

While Scherzer has continued to pitch at an elite level and now is seeking another title as a member of the Mets’ elite rotation, Corbin is stuck on a rebuilding Nationals team, unable to right a ship that went wayward long ago.

For this one night, though, it was Corbin who rose to the occasion with seven standout innings while Scherzer departed after only five frames when he felt “fatigued on his left side,” according to the Mets. And when Lane Thomas launched a go-ahead homer off reliever Adam Ottavino in the top of the eighth and his teammates churned out five more insurance runs in the ninth, it was Corbin who emerged with an unexpected 7-1 victory at Citi Field.

With perhaps his best performance of the season, Corbin held the Mets firmly in check, earning his second straight win as he attempts to close out a miserable 2022 campaign on a positive note.

"We've worked diligently with him, and he's doing just exactly what we thought he could do," manager Davey Martinez said. "A lot of it had to do with just not giving up on him. We stayed with him, and he was encouraged by the fact we were not going to give up on him. He's going to be here for another year or so. We've got to continue to work and continue to get him better. ... I'm proud of him, and I'm glad things are starting to work out for him."

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."

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.

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).

The day has come, and not a moment too soon for a Nationals organization (and fan base) that desperately needs something to get excited about. Cade Cavalli makes his major league debut tonight, which makes this the most prominent debut for a Nats starting pitcher since Lucas Giolito in 2016.

What can we expect from Cavalli against a Reds lineup that doesn’t feature a lot of prominent names? Probably a good number of strikeouts. Possibly more than a couple walks as well, unless he can get them to chase out of the zone. Watch his pitch count, as well, because he does tend to pile up those numbers, which could prevent him from going more than five innings (if that) tonight.

The two best things the Nationals can do to help out Cavalli: Play good defense behind him, and score some runs off Reds left-hander Mike Minor (who enters with a 2-10 record and 6.44 ERA). CJ Abrams at shortstop should help in that regard. And Luis García is officially back from a groin injury, a welcome return for the club.

CINCINNATI REDS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 83 degrees, wind 7 mph out to center field

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

SAN DIEGO – Erick Fedde will come off the injured list and start Tuesday night in Seattle, with Cory Abbott moving to the bullpen for now as the Nationals make the first of several expected changes to their rotation heading into the season’s final month.

Fedde, out since July 25 with right shoulder inflammation, emerged from Wednesday’s rehab start for Triple-A Rochester and a subsequent bullpen session here at Petco Park with no issues and is cleared to come off the 15-day IL for the Nats' series opener against the Mariners.

“Fedde is ready,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He said he felt good, so he’ll start on Tuesday.”

The right-hander’s return necessitates the removal of someone from the current rotation. Martinez said for now that will be Abbott, who is available out of the bullpen for this afternoon’s game against the Padres and could either remain in a relief role moving forward or be optioned to Triple-A once Fedde is officially activated.

Abbott has made four starts for the Nats this month, going 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA, though he has allowed three or fewer runs in three of the four outings. He made three previous relief appearances this summer.

SAN DIEGO – From the moment they acquired him in the Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade, the Nationals envisioned CJ Abrams as their starting shortstop, with Luis García joining him up the middle as his double-play partner. And the intention was to make sure the two young infielders got as many opportunities to play together as possible before season’s end.

Abrams’ eventual promotion from Triple-A Rochester, though, coincided with García’s placement on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain, thus preventing the two from playing together yet.

They’re getting close to the day when they can do it, though. And this afternoon, they did work together in the field for the first time when García participated in early drills for the first time since going on the IL six days ago.

Abrams and García took grounders together prior to batting practice, then also took swings in the cage together. It was a significant hurdle for García to cross in his recovery from injury, suggesting he could be ready to return shortly after he’s eligible to come back (Tuesday, at the earliest).

“He felt good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So we’ve just got to progress now, and hopefully he continues to do well. We’ll have to come up with a plan, whether we want to send him out a few days to play (on a minor league rehab assignment) to see if he’s OK. Let’s see how he comes out of this, and how he feels tomorrow.”

A new era of Nationals baseball will get underway tonight on South Capitol Street. After the Juan Soto and Josh Bell reunion tours concluded in yesterday’s loss to the Padres, the first of the five prospects traded to Washington from San Diego will make his Nationals debut in the series opener against the Cubs.

Shortstop CJ Abrams was recalled from Triple-A Rochester this afternoon while Luis García landed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to Aug. 13) with a left groin strain. Abrams is starting at shortstop and batting seventh tonight in the first of three against Chicago.

“It's a new team. It's a new start. It's a great opportunity and I'm excited to get going,” Abrams said in front of his new locker with his old Padres bags on the floor and his new No. 5 Nationals jersey hanging inside.

With left-hander MacKenzie Gore on the injured list with left elbow inflammation and the other three prospects still a couple of years away from the major leagues, Abrams will be the first prospect from the mega trade with the Padres to appear in a game for the Nats.

“It's amazing,” he said. “Like I said, it's a good opportunity. So do my thing out there and have fun playing.”

Though he’s not in tonight’s lineup, Luis García said he’s fine after suffering a minor groin strain during Friday night’s game against the Padres.

The young Nationals shortstop had an MRI this morning to determine the extent of the injury, which he suffered while running out a groundball in the sixth inning of a 10-5 loss. Manager Davey Martinez referred to the ailment as “a little bit of a strain in his left groin,” and said García will be day-to-day until it heals.

“I want him to get treatment today,” Martinez said. “Hopefully later on he’s available to pinch-hit. We’ll see how it goes.”

The groin injury came only two days after Garcia had to leave a game in Chicago with a sore knee, creating at least some concern about the state of the 22-year-old’s legs, and raising the question of whether the organization might be on the verge of promoting recently acquired shortstop C.J. Abrams.

Had García gone on the injured list, it’s possible the Nationals would’ve replaced him on the roster with Abrams, one of the key prospects they got last week from San Diego for Juan Soto and Josh Bell. The 21-year-old shortstop entered the day batting .296 (8-for-27) with two doubles, two RBIs, four stolen bases and a .725 OPS in seven games for Triple-A Rochester.

The hubbub of Friday night should have dissipated now, so tonight’s game between the Nationals and Padres should feel a bit more normal. That is, as normal as it could feel with Juan Soto and Josh Bell playing for the opposition. Both former Nats should continue to receive nice ovations when they step to the plate tonight, but I wouldn’t expect nearly as much emotion or any formal acknowledgment of them in this one.

The Nationals were beaten around by San Diego’s lineup in the series opener, and that’s even with Soto and Bell playing only a minimal role in the proceedings. That’s an awfully tough lineup to contend with, and so the challenge tonight for Aníbal Sánchez is significant. The 38-year-old right-hander is still seeking his first win (or even his first no-decision) in his sixth big league start of the season. He was better in his last outing at the Cubs earlier this week, but he was done in by a pair of third-inning home runs, which continues to be his primary issue.

The Nats lineup faces a significant challenge itself in Padres starter Yu Darvish, who over his last 11 starts is 6-2 with a 2.68 ERA and 0.919 WHIP. It’s only the third time the veteran right-hander has ever faced Washington; he dominated here in D.C. way back in 2014 with the Rangers but was hit hard last summer at Petco Park in a game that became better known as the one when Max Scherzer gave up a grand slam to a relief pitcher.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
CF Victor Robles
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
RF Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
2B César Hernández
3B Maikel Franco
SS Ildemaro Vargas

First came the video tribute, with plenty of highlights of Juan Soto and Josh Bell in Nationals uniforms, plus a taped message from Soto himself to D.C. fans, prompting a big round of applause. Then came the announcement of the Padres’ starting lineup, featuring Soto batting second and Bell batting fourth, each of them receiving more applause.

Then came the top of the first, with Soto stepping to the plate to a standing ovation, taking off his helmet and saluting the crowd. Two batters later, Bell got the same treatment and responded in kind.

It all made for a heartfelt reunion of former players returning to South Capitol Street, even if they were traded away only 10 days ago. And then ultimately yet another frustrating night of baseball for the Nationals and their fans, who watched as Soto, Bell and the Padres beat them 10-5 in a game that only looked somewhat close because of a bottom-of-the-ninth rally.

"You never realize it until you're there," Soto said of the emotions he felt throughout the game. "When I stepped to the plate and saw all my teammates and everybody's clapping, it was a pretty cool moment."

Emotional as they both were to leave the Nats at the trade deadline, the two sluggers were equally excited to join a San Diego club in the thick of a pennant race. Soto went so far as to verbalize that before the game, saying: “When you’re on a winning team, the level of your game just goes higher and higher.”

CHICAGO – It’s a beautiful day in the Windy City, with a nice breeze blowing in off Lake Michigan and barely a cloud in the sky. Maybe good weather will inspire the Nationals to play better and end their six-game losing streak.

OK, the weather probably has nothing to do with how they play tonight. What they really need is to score some runs, preferably early, and give their pitching staff a chance to pitch with a rare lead. Davey Martinez is trying a different look in his lineup, with Luis García batting leadoff, Luke Voit batting second and Nelson Cruz in the No. 3 spot. Victor Robles, who struggled Monday night, is out. So is Maikel Franco, who also struggled in the 6-3 loss.

Paolo Espino makes the start, still seeking his first win of the season. The veteran right-hander has got to keep the ball in the yard, and he’s got to find a way to get hitters out a second time through the lineup. As tempting as it might be for Martinez to go to his bullpen early, he really can’t afford to do it unless absolutely necessary, given how much that group has worked in recent weeks.

Speaking of the bullpen, the Nationals are going to have a new pitcher soon: Jake McGee. They claimed the veteran left-hander off waivers today from the Brewers, who designated him for assignment earlier in the week. McGee has had a rough season in San Francisco and Milwaukee, but he’s got a strong track record. And the Nats have been looking for a lefty reliever for some time, so once he arrives he could be a welcome addition.

To clear space on the organizational 40-man roster for McGee, the Nationals designated Triple-A outfielder Donovan Casey for assignment. Casey, you’ll remember, was one of the four players they acquired from the Dodgers last summer in the Max Scherzer-Trea Turner blockbuster. He was far from the key prospect in the whole deal, but it’s still not a great look that he was DFA’d only one year in.

Believe it or not, the Nationals only have 52 games left this season. We have hit the home stretch of the summer.

Obviously, this franchise is going in a different direction than it has in the past. Selling your best players in back-to-back trade deadlines will do that.

But with sell-offs come exciting prospects and opportunities for young players to play for a spot on the roster for the remainder of the season and in the future.

Guys are going to get the chance to play and the Nationals will be watching.

“Yeah, I want to see these guys,” manager Davey Martinez said before yesterday’s finale in Philadelphia. “I want to see as many guys as I can play. Like I said, we're building for the future. But that being said, you're also trying to compete today. So I want to see these guys go out there and compete, and see which guys go out there and battle and play the game. It's a time where it's frustrating because we're not winning games. But it's also a time that we can learn a lot about the guys that we have moving forward.”

PHILADELPHIA – A suspicion surrounding the Nationals was all but confirmed this afternoon by manager Davey Martinez.

Before the Nats took the field at Citizens Bank Park for the third game of this four-game set against the Phillies, Martinez met with the media in his office and said Luis García has been getting reps at second base in anticipation of C.J. Abrams’ arrival to the major league roster in the coming weeks. When Abrams does join the Nationals, it seems the plan is for the current shortstop to slide over to second base, fortifying the middle of the infield.

“He's already been over there taking ground balls just in case we do bring Abrams up here,” Martinez said of García. “So he's been taking ground balls over there. And all of our infielders have actually been taking ground balls throughout the infield now, so it's kind of nice. I want them to move around and just get used to taking ground balls in different positions.”

García hasn’t played second base in the majors this season yet, but he played there in 96 games over his first two years in the bigs. In 55 games at short this season, the 22-year-old has 11 errors. He committed eight errors in 59 games at second last year and five in 37 games in 2020.

Abrams, one of the top prospects the Nats acquired in Tuesday’s trade with the Padres for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, is highly touted for his defense. The 6-foot-2, 189-pounder was cited by Baseball America as the “best defensive infielder” (2021-22) and “best athlete” (2020-22) in San Diego’s minor league system. In 32 games at shortstop with the Padres this season, the 21-year-old only committed two errors.