A smorgasbord of Nationals thoughts on this Monday morning as Detroit Lions fans around the world cope with coming oh-so-close to their first Super Bowl appearance and the rest of us cope with another Chiefs-49ers matchup …

* The Joey Gallo signing became official over the weekend after the 30-year-old slugger passed his physical. Gallo is now a member of the Nats, having agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal that also includes a mutual option for 2025.

Before anyone gets too worked up over that last nugget: Mutual options almost never get picked up. If the player has a good season, he’ll want to decline it and see if he can get a better deal as a free agent. If the player struggles, the team will decline it because it won’t want to overpay him for a second season.

So for all practical purposes, this is a one-year contract for Gallo, who will be motivated to put up big numbers and try to parlay that into a better deal next winter, whether from the Nationals or someone else.

The odds of Gallo fitting into the Nats’ 2025 plans probably aren’t great. If things go as they’re supposed to go, the outfield will be filled with James Wood and Dylan Crews joining Lane Thomas. (And even if some part of that preferred plan doesn’t come to fruition, there’s still Robert Hassell III, Daylen Lile, Jacob Young, Stone Garrett and others who could ascend to an available starting role.)

PROSPECT REVIEW: ISRAEL PINEDA

Age on opening day 2024: 23

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, July 2016

Ranking: No. 21 per MLB Pipeline, No. 21 per Baseball America

MLB debut: Sept. 11, 2022

CHICAGO – The Nationals made yet another bullpen move today, calling up recently acquired right-hander Rico Garcia from Triple-A Rochester and placing Paolo Espino on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right ring finger.

It’s the club’s 10th bullpen change in six weeks, evidence of a revolving door unit that has dealt both with injuries and poor performances from those who have tried to fill the void.

Garcia only joined the organization one week ago when he signed a minor league deal after getting released by the Athletics, for whom he posted an 8.31 ERA in seven appearances. The 29-year-old wound up pitching only twice for Rochester before getting the call he was reporting to Chicago to join the big league staff.

“Everything kind of happened so quickly,” Garcia said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here.”

The 5-foot-9 Hawaii native has endured through a winding professional career that has included major league stints with the Rockies, Giants, Orioles and A’s. In total he’s pitched 27 big league games, producing a 6.89 ERA and 1.837 WHIP.

CHICAGO – As ugly as Tuesday night – and oh boy was it ugly – the Nationals still arrive at Wrigley Field today with a chance to win this series and head home with a 3-3 record on the second-half-opening trip. Even better news: The two semi-reliable relievers they still have are both available.

Kyle Finnegan and Mason Thompson are good to go if the situation presents itself in the late innings. So is Jordan Weems, who hasn’t appeared since Sunday in St. Louis. So the key, then, is for Trevor Williams to at least provide five (ideally six) quality innings and give his a team a chance, which is basically what he’s done all year. Williams is plenty fresh, because his last start was cut short after 2 2/3 innings due to rain. So there’s no reason he can’t reach, or even top, 100 pitches tonight if he’s performing well enough.

Veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks starts for the Cubs, and he has allowed nine runs, 18 hits and six homers over his last 10 1/3 innings after pitching quite well prior to that. Hendricks isn’t an overpowering guy; his changeup is his go-to pitch. It’s imperative for these Nationals hitters to stay patient with him and not get jumpy at the plate.

The Nationals announced some roster moves this afternoon, selecting the contract of right-hander Rico Garcia from Triple-A Rochester, placing Paolo Espino on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain of his fourth right finger and transferred Israel Pineda (right finger fracture) to the 60-day IL.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 8:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 7 mph right field to left field

Sean Doolittle’s rehab tour through the Nationals’ farm system continues tonight for Single-A Fredericksburg, where the veteran reliever will be returning to the mound only 24 hours after his last appearance.

Doolittle, in the final stages of recovery from last summer’s elbow surgery, just tossed a 1-2-3 inning of relief Thursday night. He struck out one batter, threw eight of his 13 pitches for strikes and reached 92 mph with his fastball, according to manager Davey Martinez.

That was Doolittle’s third rehab appearance overall, the first coming for Single-A Wilmington on Saturday before he moved to Fredericksburg on Tuesday. Each included a scoreless inning and at least one strikeout.

Tonight presents a new challenge as Doolittle pitches back-to-back days for the first time in competitive games since he had an internal brace procedure on his sprained elbow ligament nearly 11 months ago. The fact he’s ready for that kind of workload can only be considered a good sign about his health, though Martinez cautioned against speculating too much about what it means until the lefty actually pitches and reports no issues afterward.

“It’s a good thing, but we’ll see how he gets through it today,” Martinez said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. It may be where he gets two days off after his back-to-back, and then we’ll go from there. Or maybe just one day, depending on how he feels.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ten months removed from elbow surgery, Sean Doolittle will begin pitching in competitive games again. For now, that will still be at the minor league level.

Doolittle is scheduled to join the bullpen at High-A Wilmington and make his season debut Saturday, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. It will be the left-hander’s first actual game appearance since April 19, 2022, when he suffered a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament in a win over the Diamondbacks.

Doolittle spent the next several months attempting to return without surgery, hoping to make it back for the season’s second half. But when the elbow pain returned during bullpen sessions, he opted to go under the knife.

Rather than have the more invasive Tommy John surgery, which would’ve knocked him out for 12 to 18 months, Doolittle decided to go with an internal brace procedure, a relatively new option for pitchers in which the damaged ligament is wrapped and strengthened instead of replaced altogether.

Doolittle had that surgery done in July, and at the time hoped it would allow him to be ready for the start of the 2023 season. But his timeline was slowed during spring training, and the Nationals shut him down and had him start the rehab process all over again in late March.

Sean Doolittle is making a significant step in his recovery from an elbow procedure done last year.

Rehabbing at the Nationals' facility in West Palm Beach, Doolittle will start throwing on back-to-back days, the next benchmark he’s been working toward for a while.

“Sean Doolittle is gonna go back-to-back days now,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “Once he does that, then we'll reassess and go from there.”

The veteran left-hander was limited to just 5 ⅓ innings in six games with the Nationals last year before being shut down with an elbow injury. After trying to just rest it, Doolittle decided to undergo a similar but less invasive procedure as Tommy John surgery with the hope that he would recover faster and be able to pitch this season.

He reported to spring training healthy on a minor league deal, but was ultimately shut down out of precaution of ramping up too fast. If Doolittle feels good after throwing back-to-back games, the Nationals could start looking to get him into game action.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After seemingly positive results in what was a major milestone in his recovery from Tommy John surgery, it was revealed today that Carter Kieboom has suffered a setback.

The 25-year-old, who played in his first major league game in 17 months on Thursday, is experiencing tightness in his right shoulder and has been slowed down by the team.

“Carter had a little setback. Now it's his shoulder,” manager Davey Martinez said this morning. “He's got some tightness in his right shoulder. I think because of the Tommy John, this is part of it. So we're gonna be really careful with him and kind of build up some strength in that shoulder and then go from there. It's all the throwing. He said he could hit. But I told him, 'Let's just back off a little bit. We got time, build up some strength in that shoulder and then we'll get you back out there as soon as the trainers deem ready.'”

Kieboom had been taking part in infield drills over the first few weeks of camp. While he was cleared to throw, he would do so strictly overhand, not yet using a sidearm motion. He even took a couple of days off from throwing completely, participating in the same drills without actually releasing the ball.

His hitting has not been affected by his recovery. He participated in Thursday’s game as the designated hitter and went 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, a walk, a hit-by-pitch and a run scored.

ATLANTA - When the equipment truck loaded up in D.C. and prepared to drive to the Nationals' charter plane, it was crammed with more catching gear than usual.

A total of four catchers have spots in the visitors' clubhouse at Truist Park: Riley Adams, Tres Barrera, Israel Pineda and Keibert Ruiz. Adams starts tonight, catching starter Cory Abbott, while Barrera and Pineda will be on the bench. Ruiz is the surprise addition, as the 24-year-old has recently been cleared to travel with the team.

“He’s feeling better,” said manager Davey Martinez of Ruiz, who has been sidelined since Sept. 8 with a testicular contusion. “He’s still pretty sore, but he obviously is feeling better, he’s able to fly with us.”

Ruiz won’t appear in any more games in 2022, but the Nats have designs for him in the final two weeks of the season.

“We want to keep him around,” Martinez said before Monday’s series opener. “Before the season’s over, he can maybe just kinda work out light and get going so that when the time comes, we feel like he’s ready to get ready for the season, spring training next year.”

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 – Keibert Ruiz’s first full big league season has likely come to an unfortunate end. But while everyone certainly would have liked to see him finish the year out on the active roster, to be honest, there wasn’t really anything else he needed to prove.

The Nationals know Ruiz can hit for contact. They know he has emerging power. They know he is developing into a more aggressive game planner and pitch caller. They know he’s got one of the best arms in baseball behind the plate. And they know he’s tough and durable, wanting to play as often as possible at the most physically demanding position in the sport.

What the Nats don’t know at this point is the identity of their No. 2 catcher heading into 2023.

They’ve alternated between Riley Adams and Tres Barrera this season, neither one of them showing enough consistency to seize the job on a permanent basis. And now they can add Israel Pineda to the mix after calling up the 22-year-old only one week after he was promoted from Double-A Harrisburg to Triple-A Rochester.

Manager Davey Martinez intends to get a good look at all three over the season’s final 23 games.

PHILADELPHIA – Keibert Ruiz’s season has likely come to an abrupt end after the Nationals placed their young catcher on the injured list with a testicular contusion that forced him to remain in a St. Louis hospital overnight after he was struck by a foul ball during the team’s series finale against the Cardinals.

Ruiz was discharged and was flying to Philadelphia late this afternoon to rejoin the Nationals, who formally placed him on the 10-day IL prior to tonight’s game against the Phillies. Manager Davey Martinez, though, said Ruiz has been instructed not to partake in any strenuous activities for three weeks, which leaves him almost no chance of making it back before the season ends in 26 days.

“We hope that he just continues to get better,” Martinez said. “We’ll see how he’s doing. But with everything going on, the doctors said he’s not able to do anything strenuous for three weeks. So we’re just going to take it day by day and take it from there.”

Martinez generally was encouraged about Ruiz’s progress in the last day and didn’t sound overly concerned about his long-term well-being. Assuming his season is over, the 24-year-old will finish with a .251 batting average, 22 doubles, seven homers, 36 RBIs and a .673 OPS across 433 plate appearances.

Ruiz enters the day having caught 106 games, second only to the Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto this season. He has thrown out 18 basestealers while also picking off four runners, giving him 22 total runners thrown out (again, second only to Realmuto among all major league catchers).

PHILADELPHIA – The first two legs of the Nationals’ three-city road trip went about as well as anyone could’ve reasonably expected, and that’s even with Wednesday night’s disastrous bottom of the ninth in St. Louis. They still managed to win two of three against the Mets, then split a four-game series with the Cardinals. Now they arrive at Citizens Bank Park for a three-game weekend set with the Phillies, who aren’t in first place of their division the way the other two teams were, but are very much in the thick of the wild card race.

As expected, the Nats did make roster moves before tonight’s game, with Keibert Ruiz landing on the 10-day injured list with a testicular contusion after his scary incident with a foul ball Thursday afternoon. To fill his spot, 22-year-old catching prospect Israel Pineda had his contract selected from Triple-A Rochester, getting his first promotion to the big leagues. Jordan Weems was also recalled from Rochester, while Jake McGee was designated for assignment.

The Nationals have been scoring runs during their recent upswing, and they’ll try to continue that tonight against veteran Noah Syndergaard, who gave up four runs on 11 hits when they met each other here last month. Also remember: Syndergaard has long been one of the worst pitchers in baseball at holding runners on base, so look for the Nats to run when they have the opportunity.

Patrick Corbin, meanwhile, returns to the site of one of his worst starts of the year, one of two in which he didn’t complete the first inning. He’s been much better since, and tonight he looks for his third straight win against a Phillies lineup that surprisingly doesn’t include Bryce Harper (who has struggled since coming off the IL).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph out to left field