One week after landing on the injured list with a left shoulder strain, Ildemaro Vargas was able to begin taking swings, and the Nationals utilityman is aiming for a return next week when the team is in New York.

Vargas jammed his left shoulder April 9 making a diving catch of a sharp grounder in Colorado. He finished out the game but hasn’t played since and was placed on the 10-day IL on April 11.

The 31-year-old was able to begin taking swings in the cage today, though, and he will likely attempt to take a full round of batting practice on the field Wednesday afternoon.

“He actually said he felt really good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So that’s encouraging. The next step will be to get him on the field.”

Swinging appears to be less of a concern for Vargas than fielding will be. After getting hurt, he mentioned the trouble he had reaching to catch throws and struggling to raise his left arm above his head.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals made their second round of spring cuts this afternoon, removing four position players from big league camp and bringing a bit more clarity to their options for the final two spots on their Opening Day bench.

Two of the four players cut are on the organization’s 40-man roster and were optioned to the minors: infielder Jake Alu (Triple-A Rochester) and outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa (Double-A Harrisburg). The other two were re-assigned to minor league camp: outfielders Yadiel Hernandez and Travis Blankenhorn.

Alu was perhaps the only surprising name on today’s list because the versatile 25-year-old appeared to be a candidate for a utility job on the Opening Day roster. The Nats, though, believe he’ll be better served getting more regular at-bats in minor league games the rest of the spring, rotating among multiple positions in the field.

“It was tough,” manager Davey Martinez said. “The reality is, we want to get him to play every day. He’s going to end up playing multiple positions. Get him comfortable playing some third, some second and even some left field. But just let him get as many at-bats as possible.”

Alu, a 24th round pick in the 2019 draft, turned heads in the organization last season when he racked up 40 doubles, 20 homers, 81 RBIs and an .871 OPS in 132 games split between Harrisburg and Rochester. Primarily a third baseman, the 5-foot-10 left-handed hitter has been attempting to master other positions in hopes of setting himself up for a career as a big league utilityman.

Tuesday wound up a busy day for the Nationals, who added six players to the 40-man roster, dropped four others and announced a couple more transactions to boot.

Here are some more thoughts on what transpired …

* The decision to outright Yadiel Hernandez to Triple-A Rochester might be a tip-off to more decisions that will be coming in the days and weeks to come.

The Nats clearly felt Hernandez wasn’t in their Opening Day 2023 plans, but that does still leave left field a major question mark. Are they going to enter spring training with only Alex Call and Josh Palacios in the mix out there? No. They’re going to have to go out and get somebody with a track record. Either that, or they could move Joey Meneses to left field and look for a first baseman, if they think there’s more of a market there.

Regardless of Meneses’ eventual position, the Nationals know they need to fill a middle-of-the-order hole now. And because you’d think they probably don’t want to create a second hole for a similar bat, you have to think Luke Voit is on solid footing.

The Nationals chose to protect six prospects from being lost in next month’s Rule 5 draft before today’s leaguewide deadline, which forced them to remove four more players from their 40-man roster, including outfielder Yadiel Hernandez.

Hernandez and right-handers Jackson Tetreault and Evan Lee all cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A Rochester, so they remain in the organization, though off the 40-man roster. Right-hander Tommy Romero was designated for assignment to clear another opening for prospects who needed to be protected.

The Nats took those four openings, plus two they already had entering the day, and promoted six prospects to the 40-man roster: third baseman Jake Alu, outfielder Jeremy De La Rosa, right-handers Jackson Rutledge and Jake Irvin, plus lefties Matt Cronin and Jose Ferrer. All six of those players would have been eligible to be selected by other organizations in the Rule 5 draft.

The decision to demote Hernandez isn’t necessarily a shock, but it underscores the club’s desire to look for younger alternatives in the outfield who have a better chance of being part of the long-term plan.

Hernandez, 35, has been an above-average hitter across 644 major league plate appearances the last three seasons, with 27 doubles, 19 homers, 79 RBIs and a .727 OPS. But he spent the last two months of this season on the injured list with a calf strain, and the fact the Nationals never activated him in late September suggested they were already thinking about moving on from the veteran outfielder.

It’s no surprise a team that traded its top two power bats at the deadline finished the season as one of the worst power-hitting squads in the major leagues.

When the Nationals traded Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres for six players, including five prospects, they were giving up the majority of the power produced by their lineup.

They did get Luke Voit in return, the lone veteran in the trade package coming back to Washington, to help supplant some of that power and fill Bell’s position at first base. But his nine home runs and 21 RBIs with the Nats were not enough to lift his new club from the bottom of the power barrel.

But he couldn’t have been expected to do it all by himself. Nor could he have been expected to do it when coupled with CJ Abrams, the speedy contact hitter who didn’t homer and posted a .327 slugging percentage in 159 at-bats for the Nationals.

A lack of power was already an issue for the Nats before Voit and Abrams arrived in Washington, even when they had Soto and Bell. And in this day and age of baseball when we’ve seen more homers hit than ever before (not to mention when Nats pitchers gave up the most home runs in the big leagues), that’s not a great recipe for success.

PLAYER REVIEW: YADIEL HERNANDEZ

Age on opening day 2023: 35

How acquired: Signed as international free agent, October 2016

MLB service time: 2 years, 28 days

2022 salary: $714,000

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

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

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

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

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

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals lost another bat from the middle of their lineup today when outfielder Yadiel Hernandez was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain, leaving them scrambling to put together a batting order from a roster that has been ravaged by physical ailments and trades.

Hernandez had to come out of Thursday night’s series opener against the Padres when his lower left leg cramped up. He sat out Friday’s game, then underwent an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. When that test came back showing a calf strain, the Nationals placed him on the IL (retroactive to Friday).

“It’s a strain, so he’s going to work really hard to get back as soon as possible,” manager Davey Martinez said. “There’s no saying how long it’s going to take. He’s kind of frustrated, but I told him you’ve just got to work hard to get back. There’s nothing you do. He’s been playing well, has helped us in the middle of the lineup. Hopefully we get him back soon.”

Hernandez is hitting .269 with 16 doubles, nine homers and 41 RBIs in 94 games this season, starting in left field most nights against right-handed pitchers. He batted third in Thursday’s game, evidence of the current state of the Nationals’ depleted lineup.

Hernandez’s injury comes at the same time Luke Voit has been unable to play due to back spasms. The veteran first baseman sat out Friday’s game, and though he was initially in tonight’s lineup, he was scratched again about two hours before first pitch with the issue still lingering.

LOS ANGELES – What’s that you say? The Nationals have a chance tonight at a three-game winning streak? Why yes, that’s exactly what’s at stake this evening when they face the Dodgers in the second game of this series.

It’s going to take another stellar effort to beat L.A., of course, and that starts with the pitching staff, most notably starter Josiah Gray. After using up five relievers to pull off Monday night’s 4-1 victory – and having now used both Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan on back-to-back days – the Nats need quality and length tonight from Gray, who makes his return to Chavez Ravine.

The former Dodgers prospect made his first two career big league appearances here last summer (prior to the trade) and didn’t fare so well. He also didn’t fare so well when he faced the Dodgers in D.C. earlier this season, giving up seven runs in three innings, with three homers hit off him. Gray feels like he’s been able to shake off those jitters since, and heads into tonight’s start feeling better about the state of things, though he has struggled in two of his last three outings after a fantastic June.

The lineup looks similar to Monday’s arrangement, with Victor Robles batting leadoff again (as Davey Martinez promised). The most notable change, though, is the absence of Nelson Cruz. It’s been a miserable open to the second half for the 42-year-old, who is 0-for-14 with two walks and five strikeouts since the All-Star break. Obviously, he’s a name who has been on the trading block all year, though the way he’s been performing makes you wonder just how much interest there’s going to be in him now.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Where: Dodger Stadium
Gametime: 10:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB Network (outside D.C. and L.A. markets), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 71 degrees, wind 7 mph out to center field

LOS ANGELES – Juan Soto, to no one’s surprise, found himself the center of attention again today at Dodger Stadium. One week ago, the Nationals star was celebrating victory in the Home Run Derby on this very field before an appreciative crowd. Tonight, he was left to try to ignore the awkward pleas of some among the gathering of 48,647 for him to trade in his curly W for Dodger blue.

By night’s end, though, that large gathering could only trudge out of this old ballyard muttering to themselves about how Soto and his Nationals teammates had just dismantled their boys to the tune of a 4-1 victory that included clutch hits and a whole lot of dominant relief pitching by a visiting team that entered with half as many wins as their star-laden opponents.

"It gets the team a lot more excited, especially after we did what we did against the pitcher of his caliber, with those great numbers," left fielder Yadiel Hernandez said of his team's ability to hand Dodgers starter Tony Gonsolin his first loss of the season in his 18th start. "We were able to score those runs, and it creates more excitement for us to keep going and hopefully have more games like this."

Soto played his role in the Nats’ fifth-inning rally, chopping a two-run triple over first baseman Freddie Freeman’s head, but there were countless other contributors on this night, most notably the five relievers who each tossed a scoreless inning to make the win possible.

Turning to his bullpen in the fifth despite starter Paolo Espino’s success (and low pitch count), Davey Martinez asked the quintet of Andres Machado, Victor Arano, Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan to close it out. And then watched as they did just that.

ATLANTA – There was reason for optimism heading into this Patrick Corbin start.

His overall numbers still weren’t great in the form of a 4-10 record and 5.68 ERA over his first 17 outings. But he had been really effective over his last two starts with a 1.20 ERA, 16 strikeouts and three walks over a combined 15 innings. He pitched eight innings of one-run ball and recorded a season-high 12 strikeouts on June 28 against the Pirates and then pitched another seven innings of one-run ball on Monday against the Marlins.

But the third time was not the charm for Corbin this afternoon at Truist Park, as he was charged with four runs over six innings in a 4-3 loss to the Braves before a crowd of 40,632 fans.

Like a lot of his outings, Corbin had his ups and downs throughout this start. He faced the minimum in four of his six innings, with 1-2-3 innings in the third and sixth, and double-play balls in the second and fifth. It was the first and fourth innings where he struggled.

In the bottom of the first, ​​Corbin almost worked around a Ronald Acuña Jr. leadoff single as he retired the next two batters. But Austin Riley hit a slider over the plate into the left-field seats for a two-run homer and an early 2-0 Braves lead.

Davey Martinez has always liked the idea of a deep and talented bench, offering him opportunities to play matchups late in games. And the Nationals manager did it often en route to a World Series title in 2019, summoning a pinch-hitter off his bench 252 times, then even more last season, when pinch-hitters received 282 plate appearances.

The times, though, they are a changing. With the designated hitter now in the National League on a full-time basis, there simply hasn’t been much reason to turn to the bench late in games this season. To wit: The Nats have taken only 22 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter so far, third-fewest in the majors.

So consider what happened Tuesday night to be well outside the norm this season. Martinez didn’t just use one pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth of a 3-1 victory over the Pirates. He used two.

First it was Luis García, out of the lineup for the first time in 26 games since his promotion from Triple-A Rochester, batting for Maikel Franco. Then it was Yadiel Hernandez batting for Alcides Escobar and coming through with the two-run double that broke a tie game. And then to set up his best defensive alignment for the ninth, Martinez brought in Ehire Adrianza to play third instead of Franco, with García playing shortstop. 

Was that how Martinez planned for it to all work out?

Through it all, through the awful starts, the mediocre starts and the hard-luck starts, Davey Martinez has stuck with Patrick Corbin. The Nationals manager has maintained throughout this three-year slump the one-time stalwart of a World Series pitching staff still had it in him, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

Whether tonight represented a dramatic turning point or a mere blip on the radar against a weak opponent, we won’t know for a while. But for one late-June evening under an unseasonably mild D.C. summer sky, the lefty did still have it in him.

With a season-high 113 pitches and a career-high-matching 12 strikeouts, Corbin tossed eight innings of one-run ball, giving the Nats a chance to beat the Pirates. Now he just needed somebody with a bat in his hand to make it all worth it.

Enter Yadiel Hernandez. Summoned off the bench to pinch-hit for Alcides Escobar with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Hernandez drilled a two-run double to right to propel the Nationals to a 3-1 victory and extend this team’s sudden hot streak.

"Everyone tonight did a good job," Corbin said. "Defense behind me. (Tanner) Rainey came in and shut the door. And then we get a couple big runs there by Yadi late. It was huge."

BALTIMORE – As the Nationals start this five-game road trip up I-295 at Camden Yards, they’re hoping their offensive explosion from Sunday carries over to tonight’s game against the Orioles.

After averaging just three runs over their previous eight games, the offense jumped all over Phillies pitchers en route to a 9-3 win two days ago to end an 11-games-in-10-days homestand. 

One way manager Davey Martinez is trying to create more runs is moving one of his hottest hitters up in the lineup. For the first time this season, Luis García will bat fifth, his highest spot in the lineup this year.

“He's swinging the bat well, and we're monitoring his swings and his approach,” Martinez said of García during his pregame media session. “Looking for someone, one, to drive in some runs. Two to actually get on base with some of those other guys as well. And he's done that so far.”

That he has. Since joining the Nats on June 1, the left-handed-hitting shortstop has slashed .360/.372/.507 with five doubles, two homers, 10 RBIs, one walk, one hit by pitch and nine runs scored. He has recorded a hit in 15 of his 19 games with the Nationals this season and has reached safely in 16 of the 19. His 27 hits in June rank second in the National League and his .360 average ranks sixth.

NEW YORK – Mike Rizzo was discussing the Nationals’ ragged opening two months to this season about an hour before first pitch of today’s series finale at Citi Field and on multiple occasions singled out his team’s poor fundamentals for making life even more difficult than it already is on a struggling pitching staff and lineup.

“We’re a team that the margin for error is small,” the longtime general manager said. “We can’t be giving extra outs on defense, and running into outs on the basepaths. To me, walks and errors have been the Achilles’ heel of the start.”

By day’s end, Rizzo had seen that very scenario play out and contribute to yet another loss. The Nats’ 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Mets, completing a three-game sweep, perhaps was inevitable regardless because the lineup was shut out for the second straight day and has now gone 21 consecutive innings without scoring a run. But it’s also not inaccurate to say four of the five runs they surrendered were a direct result of shaky defense and two of the five walks their pitching staff issued.

"The walks and the defense: Two bad combinations," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got to play better on defense,and we've got to limit the walks. I've always said the hitting comes and goes. That's part of the game. But you've got to do three constants: Play defense, run the bases well and pitch well. And today, two of the three things we didn't do well."

This team, as Rizzo noted, simply can’t afford to make fundamental mistakes because it simply doesn’t have enough consistent offensive firepower or an accomplished enough pitching staff to make up for it. Perhaps it could’ve been overlooked today, but only if they had produced at the plate to offset the other stuff.

Maybe the worst thing the Nationals could have done before tonight’s game was score 13 runs in this afternoon’s game.

Though that hefty output in the opener of their doubleheader with the Rockies represented the sixth time this season they’ve scored 10 or more runs – tied with the Yankees, Dodgers and Cardinals for the major league lead – they’ve almost always followed those performances with tepid ones at the plate. In four of the previous five instances, they scored four or fewer runs their next game.

So it shouldn’t have surprised anyone when the Nationals, presented with countless opportunities to drive in runs in bunches tonight, failed to deliver during a 3-2 loss to Colorado that snapped their season-high winning streak at three games.

Those two lone runs came via Nelson Cruz’s first-inning double (the team’s only hit in 16 tries with runners in scoring position) and Yadiel Hernandez’s sixth-inning solo homer (the team’s sixth during the last three Saturdays, with zero homers on any other day during that bizarre stretch).

"We just couldn't get that big hit with guys on base," manager Davey Martinez said. "That's part of it. These doubleheaders sometimes go sideways on you a little bit."

MIAMI – Lane Thomas arrived in D.C. last summer after a trade with the Cardinals for Jon Lester. He was one of 12 prospects the Nationals received in return for selling off eight of their veteran players. Of those prospects, he’s now one of four currently impacting the major league roster.

In 45 games with the Nationals during last season’s second half, Thomas slashed .270/.364/.489 with an .853 OPS, 33 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 27 RBIs, four stolen bases and 27 walks. Meanwhile, Lester (who went 3-5 with a 5.02 ERA in 16 starts with the Nats) went 4-1 with a 4.36 ERA in 12 starts with the Cards before retiring over the offseason.

The trade was a steal for the Nationals.

In fact, Thomas played so well, he replaced former top prospect Victor Robles full-time in center field and the leadoff spot. Robles, of course, was sent down to Triple-A Rochester and never returned to the majors in 2021.

This year, however, their roles have changed. With Robles expected to be the full-time center fielder and Thomas full-time in left coming into the season, they are now sharing time in center while Yadiel Hernandez stays hot at the plate and mans left field.

MIAMI – ¡Bienvenidos a Miami! After finishing up a six-game homestand by going 2-4 against the Mets and Astros, the Nationals now embark on a six-game road trip starting with tonight’s series opener against the Marlins.

Interestingly enough, the Nats have fared much better away from their home ballpark so far in 2022. They’re 7-9 (.438) in their 16 road games and have outscored their opponents 94-86. They are 5-15 (.250) and have been outscored 100-56 in 20 home games.

Aaron Sanchez will look to build off one of his strongest outings as a National, when he held the Mets to three runs on six hits with no walks over 5 1/3 innings Wednesday. For the season, Sanchez is 2-2 with a 7.58 ERA and 1.421 WHIP over four starts.

Sanchez made two starts against the Marlins last year as a member of the Giants, holding the Fish to just one run over a combined 9 2/3 innings.

Sandy Alcantara will take the bump for Don Mattingly’s club while looking to continue his strong start to the season. The right-hander is 2-2 with a 2.74 ERA that ranks ninth in the National League. He held the Nats to just one run over six innings in an April 26 win at Nationals Park.

This is my first solo road trip covering the Nats, so I’m excited to bring you coverage this week from South Beach. Mark Zuckerman will rejoin the team in Milwaukee on Friday.

Update: Nelson Cruz was scratched from tonight's lineup. Manager Davey Martinez said the slugger wasn't feeling well. Yadiel Hernandez is now the designated hitter and batting fourth, and Lane Thomas is now in left field and batting seventh.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
DH Nelson Cruz Yadiel Hernandez
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Maikel Franco
LF Lane Thomas
SS Dee Strange-Gordon
CF Victor Robles

RHP Aaron Sanchez

MARLINS
2B Jazz Chisholm
DH Jesús Aguilar
LF Jorge Soler
1B Garrett Cooper
RF Avasaíl García
3B Brian Anderson
CF Bryan De La Cruz
SS Erik González
C Jacob Stallings

RHP Sandy Alcantara

No major league club has played better, or particularly pitched better, this month than the Astros. The Houston staff that walked into Nationals Park tonight had surrendered a grand total of 12 runs over the last 11 games. Not surprisingly, all 11 resulted in victory for Dusty Baker’s squad.

So consider what the Nationals just did on this Saturday evening, and try to explain it. Scoring a run in the first and then multiple runs in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, they torched the Astros’ previously ironclad pitching staff during a 13-6 win that kind of defied logic.

The same Nats lineup that has struggled so mightily to produce extra-base hits got five of them in this game, including Yadiel Hernandez’s three-run homer, Nelson Cruz’s three-run double and Maikel Franco’s two-run homer.

All told, the Nationals crossed the plate more times tonight than they did their previous four games combined, putting an end the Astros’ winning streak with emphasis and giving a crowd of 22,949 plenty of reason to cheer, something that has been in woefully short supply this season.

"Just good at-bats," Cruz said. "We were patient. We hit strikes. We were facing pretty good pitchers, from their starters to their relievers. To be able to score that many runs, it shows how good of a lineup we have."

Very little went right for the Nationals on Friday night. They trailed 5-0 in the top of the first, and though Josiah Gray did right the ship after that, the lineup did nothing of consequence to try to mount a comeback. They’ll hope for a much better outcome tonight against the Astros, really hoping they can start stringing together some hits. (Or, even better, some extra-base hits.)

The challenge standing in their way: A Houston pitching staff that has allowed a grand total of 12 runs during the current 11-game winning streak. That’s almost impossible to believe, but it’s true. Cristian Javier, tonight’s starter, has been part of this run himself, and will take the mound with a 2-0 record and 0.83 ERA, though four of his six appearances to date have come out of the bullpen and he’s yet to top 87 pitches in either of his starts.

Davey Martinez has two changes from Friday night’s lineup. Yadiel Hernandez, who sat against Astros left-hander Framber Valdez, is back in there batting fifth and playing left field. And Dee Strange-Gordon gets the start at shortstop instead of Alcides Escobar, who actually had a strong night in the field but had another 0-fer at the plate.

Erick Fedde gets the ball for the Nationals. He managed to shut out the Angels’ potent lineup for five innings in his last start, but he found himself having to pitch out of trouble that entire outing. He’ll need to be more efficient tonight if he wants to go deeper in the game and take some load off the bullpen’s shoulders.

HOUSTON ASTROS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain ending, 70 degrees, wind 4 mph right field to left field