PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The Nationals made another round of cuts this morning, sending six players down to leave 37 healthy players in big league camp with 12 days to go before the team heads north.

Four pitchers were optioned to Triple-A Rochester (right-handers Cory Abbott, Jake Irvin and Jordan Weems, left-hander Matt Cronin), one pitcher was optioned to Double-A Harrisburg (right-hander Jackson Rutledge) and one player (catcher Drew Millas) was reassigned to minor league camp.

Abbott and Irvin will open the season in Rochester’s rotation, according to manager Davey Martinez, and there’s ample reason to believe both will get a chance to start for the Nationals at some point this season. Abbott, 27, started nine games and made seven relief appearances in the majors last year, going 0-5 with a 5.65 ERA and 1.438 WHIP. Irvin, 26, will be pitching at Triple-A for the first time after producing a 3.83 ERA and 1.142 WHIP in 24 combined starts at Single-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg in 2022.

Rutledge, 23, will be making his Double-A debut after going 8-6 with a 4.90 ERA and 1.387 WHIP in 20 starts for low Single-A Fredericksburg last season. Though he’s skipping high Single-A, the Nationals believe the 2019 first round pick is ready.

“He’s matured a lot,” Martinez said. “His control of the fastball is a lot better. Secondary pitches are a lot better. I think the bump to Double-A will be good for him. He needs to start getting challenged a little bit, but I saw a really big improvement this spring with his command, his ability to throw strikes. Why not? Let’s push these guys a little bit.”

It’s another deadline day in the baseball world. Earlier this week, it was the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster and protect them from being lost in the Rule 5 draft. Today it’s the deadline to tender contracts to all players who are eligible for salary arbitration.

What that means: Any player with at least three years but fewer than six years of big league service time – plus the “Super 2’s” who qualified before reaching the three-year mark – will learn today whether their clubs intend to make them contract offers for 2023 or part ways and leave them as free agents.

The most notable developments every year on this date don’t have to do with the players who are tendered contracts. It’s all about who doesn’t get a contract offer, who gets non-tendered.

And in the case of the Nationals, there are a couple of tough decisions to make.

The Nats have 10 arbitration-eligible players, but infielder Ildemaro Vargas already agreed to terms on a contract for 2023 earlier this week, so he’s not a part of this discussion. The decisions on six of the other players would appear to be easy ones. The team should tender contracts to Carl Edwards Jr., Victor Robles, Tanner Rainey, Hunter Harvey, Lane Thomas and Kyle Finnegan.

NEW YORK – The Nationals made a roster move to their bullpen prior to today’s game against the Mets, recalling Andres Machado from Triple-A Rochester and placing Víctor Arano on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain that likely will end his season.

Arano last pitched Thursday against the Athletics and reported shoulder soreness afterward. An MRI revealed the shoulder strain, so the Nats decided not to wait any longer and placed him on the IL (retroactive to Sept. 2) now.

“We thought at this point, let’s just put him on the IL, try to get him healthy by the end of the year,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But he’s done well for us. We want to make sure he leaves this year healthy again so he can start his winter program.”

Martinez wouldn’t go quite so far as to declare Arano done for the season, but acknowledged he likely won’t have time to return to game action.

“He’s going to be shut down for a week or two, and then after that we’ll see if we can get him going, get him throwing,” the manager said. “The biggest thing is just to have him throw off the mound if he can before he leaves (for the offseason), so we know he’s OK.”

PHOENIX – The Nationals signed nine of their top-10 draft picks today, including first rounder Elijah Green, who should immediately be classified as one of the top prospects in an organization still trying to stockpile more young talent.

Green, the fifth overall selection in Sunday’s first round, represents the highest draft pick the Nationals have had since they took Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper No. 1 overall in back-to-back years in 2009-10, not to mention their first top-10 selection since Anthony Rendon went sixth in 2011.

Terms of Green’s deal weren’t immediately known, but the expected value of the signing bonus for the No. 5 pick was $6.49 million. The 18-year-old outfielder had committed to play next spring at the University of Miami, but as expected he’ll immediately become a professional and begin his trek up through the minor leagues.

Green, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound center fielder with right-handed power and a strong arm, was drafted out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. The son of former NFL tight end Eric Green, he was described by Nationals vice president of scouting operations Kris Kline as a player who “could be an impactful superstar” if he develops as hoped.

Green will be at Nationals Park on July 29 to be introduced to the crowd before the team’s next home game.

Because they had gone with a four-man rotation this week, the Nationals knew they were going to have to remove someone from their active bullpen today to make room for Aníbal Sánchez, who was officially activated off the 60-day injured list and will make his first big league start in two years tonight.

Trouble is, just about everyone in the current bullpen has pitched well in recent weeks, leaving no obvious candidate for demotion. In the end, the club decided to option Mason Thompson to Triple-A Rochester, even though the 24-year-old right-hander had retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced after returning from his own injury earlier this month.

The Nationals also transferred Stephen Strasburg to the 60-day IL, a procedural move that was needed to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Sánchez. That doesn’t change anything about Strasburg’s potential return from a stress reaction in his ribs, which already was going to sideline him for a considerable amount of time.

Thompson’s demotion certainly had nothing to do with his performance. He’s actually yet to allow a run in seven big league appearances this season. But with the team’s other optionable relievers (Andres Machado, Jordan Weems) also pitching well, someone had to draw the short straw.

Manager Davey Martinez explained the move to send Thompson down as one of caution for the right-hander, who missed three months with right biceps tendinitis.

The Nationals pitching staff has stabilized somewhat over the last two weeks, thanks to mostly quality performances from starters and thus fewer innings asked of the bullpen. But if and when more reinforcements are needed, several pitchers are inching closer to return from injury.

Aníbal Sánchez is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Triple-A Rochester tonight in the Red Wings’ series finale against Worcester. The 38-year-old right-hander last pitched Tuesday, lasting only 2 2/3 innings while throwing 61 pitches (only 34 strikes).

The Nationals, obviously, want to see more efficiency from Sánchez, who has been out since opening day with a cervical nerve impingement in his neck, allowing him to go deeper in the game. They’re targeting four innings for him.

“He says he’s going to go more,” manager Davey Martinez said with a look of skepticism in his eye. “We’ll see.”

As with Sánchez, the Nats want to see better results from Josh Rogers when he makes his second rehab start for Rochester later this week on the road at Lehigh Valley. The lefty, out since June 3 with an impingement in his shoulder, was roughed up for seven runs in 3 2/3 innings Thursday, serving up three homers.

BALTIMORE – Though none of them are ready to return yet, several rehabbing Nationals pitchers are moving closer to rejoining the active roster, a potential boon for an overworked staff this summer.

Mason Thompson began a rehab assignment for Triple-A Rochester today and tossed a scoreless inning, with a strikeout during the frame. The right-hander, out since mid-April with a biceps strain, is scheduled to make several more minor league appearances to build his arm up but could be added to the bullpen as soon as he reaches that point.

Sean Doolittle, meanwhile, has been throwing from 120 feet, a significant progression as he attempts to return from an elbow sprain suffered in late April after making only five appearances. The veteran lefty seems to be benefitting from the effects of a platelet-rich plasma injection he received last month, though he still needs to throw off a mound before knowing he’s on the full road to recovery.

“He says he feels really good,” manager Davey Martinez said today, “which is great.”

Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers are now in West Palm Beach, Fla., throwing to live hitters. Sánchez, out since opening day with a nerve impingement in his neck, pitched two innings for the organization’s Rookie-level club and could head out to join one of the higher-level minor league affiliates soon to build up his pitch count before potentially coming off the 60-day injured list.

MIAMI – The Nationals gave Joan Adon two months to experience life pitching every fifth day in the big leagues, letting the rookie right-hander take his lumps while trying to emphasize the positives despite his unsightly overall numbers. By the time he was roughed up by the Marlins on Tuesday night, they decided a move was needed.

Adon was optioned to Triple-A Rochester today, a transaction that felt increasingly likely in recent weeks and came to a head during Tuesday’s 12-2 blowout loss. The Nats for now used the roster opening that demotion created to recall reliever Sam Clay from Rochester, though they already know they’ll need to make another move before Thursday’s series finale, in which Stephen Strasburg will come off the 60-day injured list to make his long-awaited season debut.

Adon heads back to the minors after going 1-10 with a major-league-worst 6.95 ERA in 12 starts, capped off by Tuesday’s outing, in which he allowed eight runs before recording an out in the fourth inning.

“At this point, we want him to understand and work on some things without the pressure of going out there every five days and competing up here,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We want him to go down and work on some things. We had a great conversation yesterday, all positive. This kid’s going to come back here. He’s going to help us win games. His stuff is electric. He’s just got to learn how to use it effectively.”

The Nationals knew the risk they were taking putting Adon in their opening day rotation. The 23-year-old made only three starts at Double-A and one at Triple-A before getting the call to make his major league debut in the final game of the 2021 season.

The Nationals lineup did its part, jumping out to an early lead with a first-inning barrage of hits. Patrick Corbin did his part, producing a rare quality start and departing in the seventh inning with his team ahead.

All that stood between Corbin and his long-anticipated first win of the season was a Nats bullpen that needed some reconfiguring on this night.

With Kyle Finnegan presumably unavailable after pitching back-to-back days, manager Davey Martinez made the aggressive move to put closer Tanner Rainey on the mound to face the heart of the Rockies’ lineup in the eighth inning. And after Rainey retired the side, it was veteran Steve Cishek entrusted with the ninth, his team’s lead having just been padded to four runs.

There was no save in the end, but Cishek did finish off a satisfying 7-3 victory for the Nationals that finally got Corbin in the win column for the first time in 10 tries this year.

"It was going to come," Martinez said. "And I told him: 'Don't fight it. Don't worry about the wins and losses. It's going to come. Just keep pitching, keep doing what you're doing.' And tonight was a perfect example. He went out there and pitched well, kept us in the game. We scored some runs, and he got his first one out of the way."