CJ Abrams remains out of the Nationals lineup for this afternoon’s finale against the Marlins. It’s the third straight game the young shortstop will miss, but the team remains hopeful he could be available off the bench to pinch-hit.

Abrams was scratched from the lineup before Friday’s game after jamming his left shoulder while making a diving play at short Thursday night. Nasim Nuñez will make his third straight start in place of Abrams, playing shortstop and batting ninth. The switch-hitting Rule 5 pick has gone a combined 0-for-6 over the last two games.

“We're gonna hold him back,” manager Davey Martinez said of Abrams during his pregame media session. “We'll hope that maybe he can pinch-hit today. He's still feeling it a little bit, so we'll keep him down. He's getting treatment and everything. Hopefully, he can pinch-hit today and then be ready to go tomorrow.”

The Nats didn’t schedule any further testing for Abrams, specifically an MRI, and are confident there isn’t any significant damage to his shoulder.

“No, the doctor looked at it and said it's just an impingement,” Martinez said. “He thinks there's nothing damaged in there.”

The season’s final three weeks will see the Nationals play 11 of their last 19 games against teams in the thick of the pennant race. It makes for a significant challenge for a team loaded with rookies getting used to September baseball in the majors for the first time, let alone games of this magnitude.

The gauntlet begins with a quick, two-game series against the Braves, a division rival the Nats already clinched its season series against. And with MacKenzie Gore having played a huge role in that success, tonight’s matchup on South Capitol Street should have elicited some sense of confidence from the home team.

How much of that confidence remained at the end of a 12-0 drubbing? Gore and Co. can say what they want, but there were no silver linings to be found on this Tuesday night at the park.

In one of his worst starts of the season, and certainly his worst in nearly a month, Gore dug his team into an early 7-0 hole, failing to make it out of the fourth inning and getting battered around by a Braves lineup severely depleted by injury, one just hoping to produce enough to take advantage of great pitching and beat out the Mets for the National League’s final Wild Card spot.

Gore wasn’t solely to blame tonight. He was victimized by two costly defensive mistakes. And the Nationals lineup managed all of three hits despite facing the Atlanta bullpen for eight innings after All-Star starter Reynaldo López departed 25 pitches in with shoulder tightness.

Some 3 1/2 months since he last pitched for the Nationals, Trevor Williams took the mound this evening in Harrisburg for a long-awaited rehab start.

The right-hander, out since May 30 with a flexor strain in his elbow, tossed three scoreless innings in the Double-A game against Reading. And barring any setbacks, he’s likely to return to Harrisburg and build up to four or five innings Sunday afternoon, then be activated off the 60-day injured list and rejoin the Nats rotation.

“It’ll be nice to see him back on the mound for us before the season’s over,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So we’re going to try to build him up for that.”

Why are the Nationals so determined to get a 32-year-old pending free agent starts down the stretch of a season that won’t extend into October? It’s not just about giving Williams a chance to pitch a couple more times in the big leagues and perhaps help his cause as he looks for a job in 2025. It’s also about giving the four young starters who are a part of their future the best opportunity to finish the season healthy without being shut down early.

The Nats have been closely monitoring the workloads of MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz. Each has exceeded his previous career high in innings pitched, with three weeks still to go this season.

PITTSBURGH – CJ Abrams’ first at-bat Sunday afternoon was shaping up to look a lot like so many of his at-bats over the last two months.

Leading off the Nationals’ series finale against the Pirates, the slumping shortstop aggressively went after Jared Jones’ first pitch of the day – a 99 mph fastball over the plate – and could only manage to foul-tip it. He got another 99 mph fastball on the next pitch, this one up and away, and swung through it altogether, leaving himself in an 0-2 hole.

And then Abrams turned what looked like another wasted at-bat into one of his best in a while. Recognizing an 0-2 slider from Jones, he stayed back on the pitch and blasted it 416 feet to right-center field for a leadoff homer.

“It was big,” he admitted afterward. “You’ve just got to believe in yourself when you’re up there at the plate. Keep working, and good things happen.”

Abrams has needed to tell himself that a lot during the last two months. What had been a brilliant first half, culminating in a spot on the All-Star team, has since turned decidedly disappointing.

PITTSBURGH – Tonight's game between the Nationals and Pirates has been postponed due to a line of storms expected to arrive about an hour after scheduled first pitch and linger throughout the night.

The two teams will now play a split doubleheader Saturday, with the makeup game at 1:35 p.m. followed by the originally scheduled game at 6:40 p.m.

After a brief period of rain this afternoon, the skies over PNC Park actually cleared up and looked to remain that way until approximately 7:30 p.m. In theory, this game could have started on time at 6:40 p.m., with officials hoping to get as many innings as possible in before the rain arrived.

But with the storms expected to be strong and last throughout the night, the Pirates decided not to take any chances and announced the postponement about 30 minutes before first pitch.

DJ Herz, who was supposed to pitch tonight, will now start Saturday's 1:35 p.m. game. Mitchell Parker will start the 6:40 p.m. nightcap as planned.

MIAMI – When the Nationals walked into the clubhouse at loanDepot park on Tuesday, a familiar face joined them.

Cade Cavalli, still rehabbing from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery in nearby West Palm Beach, once again made the trip down from the team’s spring training facility to spend some time around the team. Ever since his surgery, nearly every time the Nats have been in Miami, Cavalli has joined them.

But this time, he was not alone. Another familiar face joined him on the trip down to Miami. One that has not been seen since spring training.

Mason Thompson, also recovering from Tommy John, was all smiles as he walked into the clubhouse on Tuesday and was greeted by his teammates for the first time since his surgery in March. And while his target date to return is still sometime in 2025, he has been encouraged with how his own rehab process has gone.

“I feel great,” Thompson said. “Still a little ways out from throwing, I think sometime in October is kind of the set date. But I feel great. I feel, honestly, better than I did prior to surgery. Arm feels good. Body feels good. Feeling strong and just looking forward to getting back out there.”

MIAMI – The Nationals have had their issues with the Marlins over the past two seasons. Entering this season, they were 6-26 against Miami between 2022 and 2023, including going an abysmal 2-11 last year.

But that script has completely flipped this year, with the Nats posting a perfect 8-0 record against their lowly National League East rivals and outscoring them 54-20 coming into tonight’s two-game series finale.

Looking to extend that eight-game winning streak against the Marlins, the Nationals fell just short despite a late rally that gave them the lead in the eighth inning. In the end, Derek Law surrendered the walk-off hit in the 10th inning as the Nats dropped their first game of the season to the Marlins 4-3.

After the Nats went quietly in the top of the 10th, Law entered from the bullpen to face the Marlins’ Nos. 9-1-2 hitters. A groundout to second moved the automatic runner to third and set up Xavier Edwards’ walk-off single to send the announced crowd of 6,156 home happy.

The outcome was almost different though. Facing a 2-0 deficit in the eighth inning and with only five baserunners up until that point, the Nats put together another late rally against the Marlins bullpen.

MIAMI – While watching a Nationals game, whether in person or on TV, odds are you will see their top prospect sitting on a perch along the railing of the dugout during the game.

You’ll have to wait an inning, however, because Dylan Crews doesn’t have much time to watch the game from there while batting leadoff for manager Davey Martinez’s club.

Crews has only played in seven major league games entering tonight’s finale against the Marlins. But Wednesday's game will be the sixth time in eight appearances the rookie outfielder will hit in the leadoff spot.

That spot has typically been where CJ Abrams hits, including Crews’ major league debut when the young outfielder hit second. But the Nats’ young shortstop has been bumped down the order to try to take some pressure off him as he looks for more success at the plate.

In the meantime, Martinez thinks Crews’ approach suits him well as a leadoff hitter.

MIAMI – Ballplayers usually have an opposing ballpark they enjoy playing in outside of their home stadium. Usually, it’s one within the division where you play multiple times a year. The more you play there, the more comfortable you get and the better numbers you post.

For Keibert Ruiz, that ballpark might just be loanDepot park.

The 26-year-old Nationals catcher just enjoyed another successful night at the plate in Miami. He started Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the Marlins 3-for-3 and a triple shy of the cycle. He finished 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and an RBI.

“Don't try to do too much, look for my pitch and just trusting myself,” Ruiz said after his sixth multi-hit game in Miami, 10th overall against the Marlins. “I've been working on some things in the cage, and just gotta have the plan and bring it to the game.”

“He laid off some pitches and got the ball up a little bit and just smoked some balls,” said manager Davey Martinez. “So it was good to see him have a good day today. It really was. He's been working hard.”

MIAMI – The Nationals needed Monday’s off-day in Miami to get past an ugly weekend back at home.

While still a young team – Sunday’s starting lineup averaged 24.4 years old, younger than each of the lineups posted by Triple-A Rochester and Double-A Harrisburg that day – the Nats were uncharacteristically sloppy in the field on Saturday and Sunday. They were outscored 19-4 and charged with five errors over the last two games against the Cubs.

“We could have used the day off, for sure,” manager Davey Martinez said before tonight’s opener of a two-game set against the Marlins. “But when I went back and I looked at the game yesterday, to me, those were just really mental mistakes. Nothing physical about it. Just, it's September.”

It is September and there is less than a month left in the season. But what the Nationals displayed on the field over the weekend is not who they are and not what they want their young team to become.

Well, after yesterday’s off-day, the Nats cleaned up their act and played good baseball en route to a 6-2 win over the Marlins in front of an announced crowd of 6,854 at loanDepot park. Maybe a day off in the South Florida sun is all they needed.

MIAMI – Cade Cavalli last stepped on a mound on June 21 with High-A Wilmington. It was the third – and last – of his official rehab starts as he continued his recovery from last year’s Tommy John surgery. And it was the most encouraging of his rehab outings to date: He pitched three scoreless, hitless innings.

The initial target date for his major league return was in late June/early July, which was established after his March 2023 surgery. It was approaching and there was legitimate hope he would rejoin the Nationals rotation for the second half of the season.

But that target date and Cavalli’s whole rehab process was shaken up by a subsequent case of the flu and a period in which he experienced “dead arm” when he threw a ball.

“We shot for a date and we tried everything possible to get there. And sometimes the arm just doesn't respond like we wanted it to,” said Cavalli, who once again met the Nats in Miami from the team’s spring training facility in West Palm Beach, where he was rehabbing. “It wasn't anything horrible. Good news is we're still healthy. Just had to slow it down a little bit. It's part of the TJ recovery, as you know. It's 15 to 18 months for a reason, so we're just taking it slow and easy. Making sure that it's right and that it's the right time when I get back, so that we don't have to have another setback, hopefully.”

Setbacks happen in long rehab processes. Cavalli and the Nats just didn’t expect him to have two of them in quick succession when he was sick and then felt like he wasn’t throwing as well as he should have at that point in the rehab.

CJ Abrams has been the Nationals’ primary leadoff hitter since July 7, 2023. When he wasn’t leading off, he was hitting second.

Until last night when manager Davey Martinez moved his All-Star shortstop down to the No. 7 hole. The idea was simple: Take some pressure off the young star so he can break out of this slump that is endangering his overall season.

Since July 7, the one-year anniversary of his promotion to the leadoff spot, Abrams’ season has been going in a downward spiral. Over 41 games entering last night, he slashed .169/.239/.288 with a .526 OPS, five doubles, one triple, four home runs, 16 RBIs, eight walks and 42 strikeouts.

“I was hoping that he worked some things out and got out of the funk,” Martinez said of the lineup change decision. “I wanted to see how he reacted to everything. And it's been going on for a while. I've been wanting to do it for a while. And I thought, let's do it now and see if we can get him back so he finishes the season off strong. … Nothing wrong with it. I told him, ‘Hey, you’re gonna play. You’re our starting shortstop. Just remember one thing: When the game starts after the first inning, you become a hitter. That’s it.’”

Abrams started last night’s game against the Cubs 0-for-3 with two strikeouts while batting seventh.

The Nationals were riding high this week. They saw another one of their top prospects make his major league debut on Monday, then proudly watched him lead a group of other young stars in beating the Yankees twice in three games.

But the Cubs entered this series riding high, too. They found themselves back over .500 and slowly nearing the playoff race again as winners of nine of their last 12 games coming into tonight’s three-game series opener on South Capitol Street.

In the end, only one team could keep the good times rolling with another win, and unfortunately for the home team it was the visitors who came away with a 7-6 victory in front of 28,792 fans on a misty, breezy night at Nationals Park.

Something had to give between the Nats rotation and Cubs offense to start this holiday weekend set.

Nationals starters have combined to post a 1.94 ERA and 1.098 WHIP while striking out more than one batter per inning and never once allowing more than two earned runs over their last nine games. Cubs hitters have combined to score 73 runs over their last seven games, averaging 10.4 runs per game.

While Dylan Crews and James Wood have commanded the spotlight this week, and rightfully so, the Nationals are focusing on ensuring two of their other young stars have strong finishes to the season. And in different ways.

Davey Martinez’s lineup for tonight’s opener against the Cubs features one major change and a noticeable absence: CJ Abrams was bumped all the way down to the seventh spot in the order and Luis García Jr. on the bench with left-hander Shota Imanaga starting for Chicago.

For the first time this season, Abrams is not batting in one of the top two spots in the lineup. In fact, it’s the first time the young shortstop has started a game this low in the order since July 6, 2023, when he hit eighth against the Reds. The following day, he was moved up to the leadoff spot, where he performed well for a strong second half of last season and hit for much of this year.

“Just want to give him a little breather. I want him to relax a little bit,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “Just start working better at-bats. As you know, he's been chasing a lot. I just want him to kind of slow down a little bit. So I talked to him before I sent the lineup out. He's good with it. Like I said, when you start getting on base and taking your walks, I want you to get back up there. But we need to slow you down a little bit. He's just swinging a lot.”

Up until July 7, the one-year anniversary of his promotion to the leadoff spot, Abrams was slashing .282/.353/.506 with an .860 OPS, 21 doubles, five triples, 14 home runs, 46 RBIs, 29 walks and 14 stolen bases. The Nats are trying to get him back to doing what he did to earn his first All-Star selection.

When Jose A. Ferrer entered from the bullpen in the top of the eighth Monday night and stopped near the infield to be inspected by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi, there was no reason for any observer to pay attention. This was standard practice for any relief pitcher who enters the game, with umpires checking for any evidence of illegal substances on his glove, cap or body.

But when Cuzzi called over the entire umpiring crew, and when Nationals manager Davey Martinez came out of the dugout to find out what was going on, this suddenly became a potential controversy. Was there something wrong with Ferrer’s glove? Was he using “sticky stuff” and about to be ejected and subject to suspension by Major League Baseball?

No, he was not. After a long meeting of all the involved parties, Ferrer was allowed to pitch, and he wound up recording the final four outs of the game for the Nats without incident.

So, what happened? Ferrer accidentally had a legal ointment on his forearm but was allowed to wipe it off without any punishment.

Like many pitchers, Ferrer uses Red Hot ointment, which keeps the shoulder muscle warm, when he pitches, according to Martinez this afternoon. But when Cuzzi noticed the 24-year-old left-hander’s forearm was unusually shiny, he got suspicious and had the entire crew take a look at it in case something illegal was going on.

It was quite a Monday night at Nationals Park, where a convergence of star players, a returning former hero and a debuting top prospect came together to create as much anticipation as has been felt around these parts in a while. The end result - a 5-2 loss to the Yankees - wasn't satisfying at all. But the mere presence of CJ Abrams, Dylan Crews and James Wood atop the Nats lineup for the first time was plenty of reason to be excited.

There was also the return of Juan Soto for the first time as a Yankee. Aaron Judge robbing home runs instead of hitting them. Mitchell Parker flirting with disaster for four innings but emerging with only minimal damage. One dominant inning of relief from Tanner Rainey, then a not-so-dominant inning after that. Some kind of controversy with Jose A. Ferrer's glove. And then no postgame press conference from Davey Martinez, who according to a club spokesman wasn't feeling well.

It all made for an eventful, if disappointing, night at the park. And one worthy of plenty of follow-up discussion. So let's do this: If you've got something you'd like to ask - either about Monday's game or anything else - submit it in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my responses ...

The day has finally come for Dylan Crews’ major league debut. After James Wood reached the big leagues for the first time on July 1, the Nationals’ newest top prospect will play his first game in a curly W cap tonight against the Yankees.

And if you take a look at manager Davey Martinez’s lineup for the opener of a three-game set against the American League East leaders (and Juan Soto), there’s a lot to be excited about at the top.

CJ Abrams, Crews and Wood will bat in the first three spots in the order, respectively, making the top portion of the lineup filled with three of the organization’s young cornerstone pieces.

“We're facing a left-handed pitcher,” Martinez said during his pregame media session in a jam-packed press conference room at Nationals Park. “It just made sense to put him in between Abrams and Wood. So kind of exciting to see those three together. We've been waiting a little while, but I really believe that this is another piece to the puzzle and to our future. So I'm excited for the kid and his family. We're all excited here. I know Nats fans should be excited. But he's one of 26. That's what I told him today: Go out there, play, have fun, be where your feet are, and let's go try to win a game and go 1-0.”

Crews hit .270 with 21 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs, 68 RBsI, 36 walks, 25 stolen bases and 60 runs scored in 100 games between Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester this season. But he was on a tear at Triple-A leading up to his promotion to the big leagues.

Dylan Crews’ arrival had to come at someone’s expense. And though they don’t play the same position, technically his roster spot with the Nationals was previously occupied by Riley Adams, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester after Sunday’s game in Atlanta.

Adams had to be worried the clock was ticking when the Nats called up Drew Millas on Saturday, giving the team three catchers for the first time in a long time. Sure enough, Millas started Sunday’s game, recorded two hits in the Nats’ 5-1 victory and remains with the big league club while Adams heads back to Rochester for the second time this season.

It’s been a rocky 2024 for Adams, who entered with high hopes of providing a quality bat behind starter Keibert Ruiz and also improving his defensive work behind the plate. But though the 28-year-old got off to a good start and performed well when Ruiz had to go on the injured list in April with a back case of the flu, he never found a way to maintain that kind of production.

In 41 total major league games this season, Adams is batting .224 with a .292 on-base percentage, five doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and a .629 OPS. He has thrown out only 3-of-34 basestealers.

The Nationals sent Adams down once before, in early June when he was struggling, and he proceeded to deliver a .946 OPS in 22 games with Rochester. That earned him a trip back to D.C. in early July, but Adams’ Triple-A offensive success didn’t carry over to the majors.

ATLANTA – As he rounded the bases in the top of the second Saturday night, having just connected for his first major league home run, José Tena’s smile could be seen throughout Truist Park. And when he crossed the plate and returned to the dugout, the Nationals’ 23-year-old rookie went right to Luis García Jr. and offered an even wider grin.

“I kept running the bases with a big smile on my face,” Tena said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “Thank God for giving me my first opportunity to hit my first home run.”

And thank García for providing Tena with a little extra motivation.

The Nats second baseman is only one year older than Tena, but he’s got 407 more games of big league experience and has taken his new teammate under his wing. And though Tena had been delivering hit after hit since joining the club earlier this month, García jokingly asked him Saturday when he was finally going to hit his first home run.

“I’m so proud of him,” García said with a smile as wide as Tena’s was after the homer.

ATLANTA – They got the best start they’d seen from MacKenzie Gore in weeks. They got nine hits off Chris Sale and found a way to push across two runs despite a lineup missing CJ Abrams and Luis García Jr. They overcame what appeared to be a serious left foot injury to Alex Call that could throw a wrench into their plans to promote top prospect Dylan Crews three days from now.

The Nationals put themselves in position for an unlikely win over the Braves tonight, if only they could finish the job late.

Alas, they could not. Unable to push across another run late despite several opportunities, they instead watched as Atlanta won 3-2 on Abrams’ throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the 10th.

"It sucks," the All-Star shortstop said. "We all fought. It came down to the wire, extra innings. We wanted to continue to fight, and it just ended like that."

A tight ballgame that saw both talented lefty starters pitch effectively turned into a contest of bullpens late. The Nats couldn’t score against the Braves relievers. The Braves did score against their counterparts, getting the tying run home against Jacob Barnes in the seventh, but did not get the winning run home in regulation, with Barnes and Robert Garcia combining to retire the side in the eighth and rookie Eduardo Salazar cruising through a 1-2-3 ninth to force extra innings.