In search of more experienced catching depth, the Nationals signed veteran Andrew Knizner to a minor league deal, offering the former Cardinals backup an invitation to big league camp and a chance to compete for a major league job.

The deal, which was confirmed by a source familiar with the terms, was first reported by the Washington Post.

Knizner, who turns 30 next month, has 290 games of big league experience, most of that coming from 2019-23 with the Cardinals, where he served as the primary backup to Yadier Molina and later Willson Contreras. His career offensive numbers (a .210/.279/.317 slash line) aren’t great, but he slugged 10 homers in only 241 plate appearances in 2023 and has worked with a number of prominent pitchers from his time in St. Louis.

A native of Glen Allen, Va., who went on to play at North Carolina State, Knizner was let go by the Cardinals after the 2023 season and signed with the Rangers one year ago. He played 35 games for Texas, batting just .167, before getting claimed off waivers in August by the Diamondbacks. He finished the season playing for Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno, batting .263 with two homers and 12 RBIs.

Knizner will come to West Palm Beach, Fla., with a chance to compete for a spot on the Nationals’ Opening Day roster, but he’ll have to outplay at least two other catchers who seemingly have a leg up for the No. 2 job behind starter Keibert Ruiz.

The Nationals haven’t completely overcome the flu bug that has taken down several corners of the clubhouse the last two weeks: They had to place another ill player on the injured list today because of it.

Reliever Robert Garcia became the latest victim, placed on the 15-day IL with influenza prior to tonight’s series opener against the Dodgers. The club purchased the contract of right-hander Jacob Barnes from Triple-A Rochester to fill the bullpen vacancy and designated minor league infielder Jake Alu for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Garcia first was afflicted with the virus more than a week ago and was unable to pitch for several days during the Nationals’ West Coast trip. The left-hander did come back to appear three times in a four-game span at the end of the week but did not look himself, retiring only one of the seven Astros batters he faced Friday and Saturday, his fastball velocity down from 95-96 mph to 92-93 mph.

“We noticed his velo was way down, and he was trying to pitch through it,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I don’t want him to get hurt, so we’re going to take care of him.”

Garcia, whose transaction was backdated two days, joins Keibert Ruiz on the IL with the flu, but the catcher is healthy again and nearly ready to return. Ruiz, who lost 18-to-20 pounds while sick, begins what should be a brief rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg tonight and should be activated later this week.

JUPITER, Fla. – It took nearly four weeks, but the Nationals finally made their first round of cuts this morning, removing seven players from their spring training roster, the majority of them young starting pitchers who weren’t going to get the innings they needed had they remained in big league camp.

Right-handers Joan Adon, Cole Henry and Amos Willingham, left-handers DJ Herz and Mitchell Parker and infielder Jake Alu all were optioned to Triple-A Rochester. Outfielder Travis Blankenhorn, who isn’t on the 40-man roster, was reassigned to minor league camp.

Adon, Henry, Herz and Parker all could figure into the Nationals’ rotation plans over the course of the season, the latter three hoping to make their major league debuts. Adon has spent parts of the last three years in the majors as a fill-in starter.

“I really wanted to see some of these young guys pitch up here, and for the most part I saw some really good things,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But it’s time to get these guys stretched out and get them on a regular routine.”

Herz joined the organization last summer, acquired from the Cubs along with infielder Kevin Made for Jeimer Candelario in the Nats’ lone trade deadline deal. The 23-year-old lefty impressed in eight starts at Double-A Harrisburg down the stretch, then pitched in the Arizona Fall League and was added to the 40-man roster over the winter.

Pick any lineup the Nationals fielded in September out of a hat, and you’re guaranteed to find the names of several players who have received scant attention around here all winter.

Jake Alu. Alex Call. Carter Kieboom. Ildemaro Vargas. Jacob Young.

Every single lineup card Davey Martinez filled out in September included at least two of those players. Many of them included three, or even four of them.

They received some of the most regular playing time on the roster late last season, and they’re all still part of the 40-man roster. But who – if anyone – is actually in the Nats’ 2024 plan?

If the rest of the winter plays out as expected, none should be in line to start Opening Day. And only a couple or three of them should even wind up on the Opening Day bench.

PLAYER REVIEW: JAKE ALU

Age on Opening Day 2024: 26

How acquired: 24th-round pick, 2019 Draft

MLB service time: 73 days

2023 salary: $720,000

The Nationals are limping to the finish line. And they’re doing so with a pitching staff that is running on fumes and running out of available options.

Tonight’s 9-6 loss to the Braves saw another ragged start by Patrick Corbin, who served up Ronald Acuña Jr.’s historic 40th home run right off the bat. And earlier in the day, one of the few bright spots in the Nats’ rotation saw his season come to an abrupt and unfortunate end.

Jake Irvin, who was roughed up during Thursday’s loss, was placed on the 15-day injured list with right ankle tendinitis. That will end the rookie’s season, and leave Davey Martinez scrambling to figure out who will make what would’ve been his final start next week.

Before that, though, Martinez must figure out who's going to pitch Sunday's newly announced day-night doubleheader, which became necessary when Saturday's scheduled game was postponed a day early with heavy rain and wind forecast to batter the region.

If the storm clears out, the Nats and Braves will play as planned at 1:35 p.m. Sunday, then make up Saturday's rainout at 6:35 p.m. in what now becomes the season's home finale.

TORONTO – Jake Alu tries not to stress about it. He knows when he arrives at the ballpark on any given day, he could be playing any one of three different positions on the field. Or not be playing at all. At this point, there’s no sense overanalyzing it.

“I don’t really think about that too much,” he said. “It’s more like: Whatever I am that day, just go out there and get it done.”

That’s exactly the kind of attitude that has convinced the Nationals to use Alu as a true utilityman despite his extremely limited amount of big league experience. These kinds of jobs are usually reserved for veterans who already know how to succeed in the majors, not rookies with barely one month of service time.

Alu, though, has taken well to his unusual assignment. Tonight, he makes his eighth start of the season in left field, one night after he made his 12th start at second base, having also played in three games at third base.

“You’ve got to embrace it,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And he’s done it really well.”

MIAMI – Jacob Young wasn’t in the minor leagues for too long before finally getting the call to the major leagues.

The 2021 seventh-round pick out of the University of Florida played 26 games at Single-A Fredericksburg the year he was drafted by the Nationals. He spent all of last year with the FredNats, slashing .262/.360/.331 with a .691 OPS, 118 runs, 52 stolen bases in 59 attempts and 152 total bases on his way to being named the Nationals’ 2022 Minor League Base Runner of the Year.

Young was one of two players in all of Minor League Baseball to steal at least 50 bases and score at least 100 runs in 2022. His 118 runs scored were tied for the most in all of the minor leagues, while his 52 stolen bases were the most among Nationals minor leaguers.

The 24-year-old started this season at High-A Wilmington, where he hit .307 and stole 22 bags in 56 games. That earned him a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg, where he hit .304 with an .805 OPS and 17 stolen bases in 52 games.

Even with top prospects James Wood and Robert Hassell III patrolling the Senators outfield with him, Young was still the standout prospect in Harrisburg.

MIAMI – The Nationals have been playing great ball lately. After last night’s 7-4 win over the Marlins – their first of the season against the Fish and first in Miami since last season – they were in line to win their fifth straight series this afternoon.

A sign of their good play recently is the amount of close games they’ve been in. Four of their last five wins have been by just a one-run margin. These Nats are as scrappy as ever after making it five of their last six.

The Nationals won another tight game in front of 13,966 fans at loanDepot Park, this time thanks to a ninth-inning rally for a 3-2 win.

“That was a good one," said manager Davey Martinez. "That's a well-played game."

The Nats tied it in the ninth after Lane Thomas hit a leadoff triple to right-center and Joey Meneses was hit by a pitch, with Jacob Young making his major league debut as a pinch-runner at first. But Dominic Smith’s hard-hit ball was fielded by Luis Arraez, who then threw out Thomas at home. An infield popout by Carter Kieboom put two outs on the board.

NEW YORK – That the Nationals keep winning is remarkable enough. That they keep doing it despite fielding some patchwork lineups in recent days is all the more stunning.

Consider the group Davey Martinez put out there Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. With Stone Garrett on his way back to Washington with a fractured left fibula, and with Keibert Ruiz scratched because he felt lightheaded after taking a foul tip off his catcher’s mask the previous night, the Nats lineup didn’t exactly stand out on paper.

After the typical 1-2-3 trio of CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses, they had a 4-5-6 of Dominic Smith, Carter Kieboom and Ildemaro Vargas. Then a 7-8-9 of Riley Adams, Jake Alu and Alex Call. Not exactly the Bronx Bombers there.

Yet look at the end result and try to find fault with it. The Nationals scored six runs on nine hits, getting back-to-back homers from Call and Abrams in the top of the seventh and clutch hits from Kieboom and Alu.

This is how things have been going for a while now, though. Even when they lose productive hitters, the Nats keep finding ways to produce at the plate.

NEW YORK – As he watched one of his team’s most popular current players fracture his leg Wednesday night and then learned one of the icons of the franchise’s previous generation had finalized plans today to announce his retirement, Davey Martinez tried to stick with the mantra that has defined his six-year tenure as Nationals manager: "Just go 1-0 today."

It’s easy to preach, but much harder to actually do in reality. But on this day, Martinez’s young and growing team found a way to live up to his mantra. With a furious seventh-inning rally that featured several clutch hits from potential future core players, the Nats came back to beat the Yankees, 6-5, and win yet another series.

"I can tell you this team has become one unit," Martinez said before the game. "They play with a lot of heart, with a lot of passion. They're starting to understand how to play for one another, which is great."

Never was that more evident on this getaway afternoon. During Wednesday night’s blowout loss, the Nationals saw outfielder Stone Garrett fracture his left fibula, carted off the field in tears. Then as today’s game was playing out, word came down Stephen Strasburg had made the decision to announce his retirement during the team’s next homestand.

If ever a group had reason for a letdown performance, this was it. But after digging themselves into an early 3-1 hole via Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres homers off Patrick Corbin, the Nats fought back late to re-take the lead.

Jake Alu made his major league debut on May 9 in San Francisco. He recorded his first hit on May 12 in D.C. against the Mets. He drove in his first run here on Aug. 1 against the Brewers and got his first extra-base hit three days later in Cincinnati.

But he hadn’t yet hit one over the fence. Until last night.

The 26-year-old rookie, who was a 24th-round pick in 2019 out of Boston College, finally hit his first home run in last night’s 8-2 win over the Athletics.

Facing left-handed reliever Sam Long, the left bat hit a first-pitch 92-mph fastball 104 mph off the bat and 419 feet over the right-center field wall and trotted the bases for the first time on a major league diamond.

“Kind of was trying to get a swing off on a fastball, and I got it first pitch kind of up in the zone,” Alu said. “And I was able to barrel it up and finally get one out of there. “

Tonight was supposed to be the first turn of the Nationals’ new six-man rotation, with Joan Adon making his second start since being inserted last week.

But the thing about a six-man rotation is that they need six men to pitch in it.

Adon’s availability moving forward is now in question after he was pulled from tonight’s 8-2 win over the Athletics with cramps in his legs while warming up for the fourth inning.

“I just started on my warmups and I felt it right away in my calf and in my groin a little bit," Adon said after the game, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "One was my calf on one side and my groin on the other.”

The 26-year-old right-hander, who threw an impressive quality start Saturday in Cincinnati, threw a couple of warmup pitches to backup catcher Riley Adams in between the third and fourth innings. But before Keibert Ruiz could even get his catching gear on, manager Davey Martinez and head athletic trainer Paul Lessard were out of the dugout checking on the starting pitcher and then departed with him.

CINCINNATI – The Nationals, as anyone who has watched them all season knows, don’t hit home runs. The Reds, as anyone who has watched them in recent months knows, try to win games less with power and more with speed.

So wouldn’t you know all but one run scored in tonight’s series opener at Great American Ball Park came via the long ball. Including some really big ones from two of the Nats’ most important hitters.

Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses combined to launch three homers from the sixth through 10th innings, with Thomas’ second blast of the night serving as the final blow in the Nationals’ come-from-behind, 6-3 victory in extras.

Jake Alu’s latest clutch hit, an RBI double over the first baseman’s head, drove home automatic runner Ildemaro Vargas with the go-ahead run off Cincinnati closer Alexis Díaz. It was Alu’s third RBI in as many days since his promotion from Triple-A Rochester to replace traded third baseman Jeimer Candelario.

"He gives himself a chance," manager Davey Martinez told reporters afterward. "He battles up there. Even though he gets to two strikes, he battles and battles and battles until he gets a pitch to hit. Does a great job of moving the guys over, then driving them in."

CINCINNATI – Hello from Great American Ball Park, where the Nationals come to town with some new faces and a new look to their lineup after Wednesday’s surprising roster moves.

Blake Rutherford is your new starting left fielder, the 26-year-old set to make his major league debut after getting called up from Triple-A Rochester to take Corey Dickerson’s spot. A former first-round pick of the Yankees, Rutherford produced a .978 OPS in the minors this season and now will finally get his shot at this level. A left-handed hitter, it would appear he’ll join Stone Garrett in the left field platoon.

Jeter Downs also was called up from Triple-A, though he’s not in tonight’s lineup. Instead, Jake Alu moves to second base to take Luis García’s spot, with Ildemaro Vargas starting at third base. We’ll see what Davey Martinez has to say about the infield plan now.

Patrick Corbin, meanwhile, gets the ball against a Reds lineup that roughed him up for six runs and 10 hits in five innings back on July 4 in D.C. He’ll have his hands full against the likes of Elly De La Cruz and this exciting young Cincinnati club, which swept that four-game holiday series last month. 

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Great American Ball Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 3 mph out to left field

As he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, the bases loaded with teammates, the tying run on third, the winning run on second, Alex Call visualized what he hoped would happen next.

"Line drive to right-center," the Nationals center fielder said with a laugh. "But we won, so that's all that matters."

Yes, they did. By a 3-2 margin over the Brewers thanks to a furious rally in the bottom of the ninth against All-Star closer Devin Williams. The details of how they pulled that off are inconsequential, right?

"You know what exit velo is to me?" manager Davey Martinez asked as he walked into the press conference room at Nationals Park. "A hit. A hit is a hit."

Fair enough. Though for the record, the Nationals recorded only one actual hit during their game-winning rally. That was Dominic Smith's jam-shot, opposite-field single, which departed his bat with a velocity of a whopping 69.9 mph.

The 6 p.m. trade deadline came and went without any more moves from the Nationals. The front offices on South Capitol Street remained quiet after yesterday’s deal that sent Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs for two prospects.

So it was back to business as usual for the boys in the navy blue jerseys and curly W caps.

“Play baseball after that," manager Davey Martinez said after letting out a long sigh when asked about his emotions once the deadline passed. "A couple of our players came in at 6:01 p.m. and asked, 'Am I still here?' I go, 'Yeah, you guys are good. You got traded to the Washington Nationals, so congratulations. Keep playing.'”

Although the fact they didn’t trade away any more players may be a sign that the Nats are closer to contention now than they were when they started this rebuilding project at this time two years ago, unfortunately tonight’s on-field result was similar to many around these parts since the 2019 World Series: A 6-4 loss to the Brewers in front of 19,847 fans who came out to Nats Park on a beautiful August night.

Josiah Gray, who was acquired at the 2021 deadline, started the night off strong, but lost his command as the game went on.

We are just minutes before the trade deadline, and although the Nationals have made a few roster moves this afternoon, none of them have been in the form of a trade like last night’s deal of Jeimer Candelario to the Cubs for two prospects.

This afternoon the Nats announced they recalled infielder Jake Alu from Triple-A Rochester to take Candelario’s spot on the active roster.

“I was excited,” Alu said back in the Nats clubhouse. “I kind of understood the scenario of everything. Like I said, I was playing baseball just one day at a time and kind of just staying focused as much as I could. That's kind of how I went about it.”

This marks Alu’s fourth major league stint this season. He has appeared in five games, going 3-for-14 (.214) with one walk and one stolen base with the Nats.

On the farm, Alu, 26, has been having another strong season. He's tied for first among Nationals farmhands with 22 doubles and ranks in the system in hits (third, 90), runs (fifth, 48), batting average (sixth, .293), OPS (seventh, .777), RBIs (tied for seventh, 43), slugging percentage (eighth, .420) extra-base hits (eighth, 28) and on-base percentage (10th, .357).

It’s Trade Deadline Day, which means people all around baseball will be glued to their phones, computers and TVs awaiting the big moves being made throughout the day up until the 6 p.m. deadline.

For the Nationals, that means keeping an eye on names like Lane Thomas and Kyle Finnegan after Jeimer Candelario was traded to the Cubs for two prospects last night. Jake Alu was officially recalled from Triple-A Rochester this afternoon to take Candelario’s roster spot.

Thomas is in tonight’s starting lineup … for now. Keep an eye out for any lineup changes leading up to the deadline.

A guy who we know isn’t going anywhere and was acquired two years ago at the deadline is tonight’s starter, Josiah Gray. The young right-hander is 7-8 with a 3.27 ERA and 1.411 WHIP over his first 21 starts this year. After a shaky start to the second half, Gray has pitched seven innings of one-run ball and six shutout innings in his last two outings.

Freddy Peralta makes the start for the Brewers, who could be busy today as they are in a tight battle with the Reds at the top of the National League Central. Peralta is 6-8 with a 4.46 ERA and 1.248 WHIP in 20 starts this season. In five games (three starts) against the Nats, the right-hander is 2-2 with a 7.29 ERA and 1.381 WHIP.

ST. LOUIS – Don’t look now, but the Nationals are playing winning baseball. No, really. They’ve won three in a row, and if they can pull off another one tonight, they’ll have their first four-game winning streak since June 27-30, 2021, back when Kyle Schwarber was homering every night and Trea Turner was hitting for the cycle. One more win over St. Louis tonight or Sunday would lock up their fifth series victory in their last six tries. Also, a win tonight would give the Nats a winning record on the road this season. (They’re currently 22-22.)

So how do they get there? It begins with Jake Irvin, who looks to continue his positive trend from before the All-Star break and provide some quality innings after the bullpen was needed for 7 1/3 total innings in this afternoon’s 10-inning win. Irvin has a 3.25 ERA over his last five starts, never allowing more than three runs in any outing.

The Nationals would love to get some more production from a lineup that already scored seven runs in seven innings today. That group will hope to keep the pressure going with CJ Abrams leading off (he’s got seven stolen bases in his last five games) in front of Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses. Jeimer Candelario is again out of the lineup with a bruised right thumb, but he told Davey Martinez he thinks he could pinch-hit if needed. We’ll see.

To compensate for Candelario’s lack of availability, the Nats used the 27th man they’re allotted for tonight’s game not on a pitcher but on Jake Alu. The utilityman flew in from Rochester and is here on site, available off the bench if needed with both Ildemaro Vargas and Michael Chavis in the lineup against Cardinals lefty Steven Matz.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Busch Stadium
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 88 degrees, wind 8 mph left field to right field