ATLANTA - Thirty-four Nationals have pitched at least one inning this season, a remarkably high total that includes five rookies and three position players.

The 35th could be the most intriguing to date.

MacKenzie Gore, the former top-100 prospect acquired from the Padres in the Juan Soto/Josh Bell trade, will make another rehab start for Triple-A Rochester tonight as he pushes to make his Nats debut before season’s end.

Manager Davey Martinez expects Gore to throw about 60-65 pitches, hoping to see more consistency from the 23-year-old.

“This is like spring training all over for him,” said Martinez. “We’ll try to give him four ups and see where he’s at.”

As he makes his way back from the injured list, MacKenzie Gore’s biggest challenge doesn’t appear to be the health of his left arm but the sharpness of his pitches.

Gore made his second rehab start for Triple-A Rochester on Friday night, and though he emerged healthy, he did have some trouble keeping the ball over the plate: Only 32 of the lefty’s 57 pitches were strikes.

“When you’re out for a while, part of the rehab is getting yourself back in rhythm,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “The first inning was very clean, they said. The second inning was clean; he walked a batter. And then the third inning is when it really became an issue.”

Indeed, Gore threw 25-of-40 pitches for strikes during his first two innings of work, then threw only 7-of-17 for strikes in the third before getting pulled.

“That could be just a little bit fatigued, not staying on his legs,” Martinez said. “That could easily be corrected by going out there and continuing to build up. But we’ll get him back here. He talked with (pitching coach Jim) Hickey about some of the things he wants to continue to work on in the bullpen, so he’ll come back and work on those things, and we’ll get him back out there.”

The Nationals received good news on two of their top pitching prospects this afternoon that involved both of them throwing a baseball in different ways.

After having been shut down for two weeks with right shoulder inflammation, Cade Cavalli was cleared to pick up a ball and resume throwing by team doctors and the medical staff.

His follow-up exam yesterday revealed that he was healthy enough to play a game of catch today at Nationals Park.

“Very good. He's actually playing catch as we speak,” manager Davey Martinez said of Cavalli’s follow-up exam and resumption of throwing. “It went really well. Inflammation’s gone. He said he feels great. Doctor evaluated him. Our medical staff put him through the gamut yesterday and today, so he's out there playing catch. So we'll see how he feels. This is great news for us. But with that being said, we still got quite a bit of ways (to go). But it's nice to see him out there throwing again.”

Cavalli was shut down after reporting unusual soreness in his right shoulder after his Aug. 26 major league debut. It was alarming news for the Nats after their top pitching prospect had finally earned the opportunity to debut in the bigs. At the time, the belief was that Cavalli would be done for the year out of extreme precaution and with only a month left in the season.

Bad news struck the Nationals clubhouse this afternoon ahead of the opener against the Athletics. Making matters worse, it involves one of their top prospects.

Cade Cavalli, just four days removed from his major league debut, will be shut down for two weeks with right shoulder inflammation, manager Davey Martinez announced to begin his pregame press conference.

Cavalli was charged with seven runs on six hits, two walks and three hit batters while striking out seven and throwing 99 pitches (57 strikes) in his highly anticipated debut Friday against the Reds. When the 24-year-old returned to Nats Park the next day to begin his between-starts program, he reported tightness in his right shoulder. The Nationals stopped him from throwing and ordered an MRI the next day.

“I'm gonna start off by saying that we are going to shut Cade down for two weeks,” Martinez said. “He threw in the game. Came back the next day, was going through his routine, he's playing catch. After about 10 throws, he said he felt tight in the shoulder area. So we shut him down. He came in, we got him an MRI right away.”

The MRI came back mostly clean. There was no damage to the shoulder itself, but there was some inflammation.

Davey Martinez had some encouraging updates on a couple of recovering pitchers before Wednesday’s getaway game against the Cubs.

Erick Fedde is lined up to make his first rehab start with Triple-A Rochester this afternoon as the Red Wings face the Worcester Red Sox.

Fedde has been on the 15-day injured list since July 30 (retroactive to July 27) with right shoulder inflammation, his last start coming on July 24 in Arizona. He threw two bullpen sessions leading up to a sim game on Friday in which he threw 47 pitches at Nationals Park.

“We would love him to go five or six innings and about 80 pitches,” Martinez said of Fedde’s rehab start during his pregame session with reporters.

The right-hander is 4-7 with a 4.95 ERA in 19 starts for the Nationals this season. With a rotation that is struggling to produce quality starts outside of Josiah Gray’s day to take the ball, the Nationals are hoping Fedde only needs one rehab outing before rejoining the major league squad. But that depends on how he does today in Worcester.

WILMINGTON, Del. – Robert Hassell III, like many of us, was surprised when he heard his name mentioned in a potential trade package for Juan Soto just 11 days ago.

He was sitting in his apartment in Fort Wayne, Ind. when he received the call from Padres general manager A.J. Preller, who told him that he was included with four fellow prospects and Luke Voit in a deal for Soto and Josh Bell.

The trade was made official later that day and Hassell packed his bags to head to the Nationals’ affiliate at high Single-A Wilmington.

The No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft made his debut with the Blue Rocks two days later, batting third and playing center field. He went 0-for-5, starting an 0-for-16 stretch to begin his career with the Nationals.

But that didn’t weigh heavy on his mind. He was still processing the trade and trying to get acclimated to his new team.

Just like 10 days ago at the trade deadline, all the attention at Nationals Park is focused on Juan Soto and Josh Bell, who return to D.C. as members of the Padres after the historic deal.

And just like 10 days ago, even though all that attention is on the now former Nationals, the current club still has a game to get ready for tonight.

In order to do so, the Nats announced a handful of roster moves before tonight’s series opener against the Padres. Tyler Clippard has been returned from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the 15-day injured list and Jake McGee was activated to the active roster.

Clippard appeared in one game for the Nationals before being placed on the IL with a groin strain on July 22. He gave up one hit in two scoreless innings against the Braves on July 14. The veteran right-hander appeared in three rehab games with Triple-A Rochester, tossing four scoreless innings of relief across the three outings.

“Clippard, we felt like he's another guy, he's done well down in the minors for us,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame press conference. “As you know, he's a veteran guy, but he knows how to get guys out. He's got some funk to him. So I think he'll be able to help us, especially against some of our lefties because he has such a great changeup and a different look. So for me, it'll be kind of a guy that we can use against some guys where they go left-right-left, that we could possibly use him in that way.”

Believe it or not, the Nationals only have 52 games left this season. We have hit the home stretch of the summer.

Obviously, this franchise is going in a different direction than it has in the past. Selling your best players in back-to-back trade deadlines will do that.

But with sell-offs come exciting prospects and opportunities for young players to play for a spot on the roster for the remainder of the season and in the future.

Guys are going to get the chance to play and the Nationals will be watching.

“Yeah, I want to see these guys,” manager Davey Martinez said before yesterday’s finale in Philadelphia. “I want to see as many guys as I can play. Like I said, we're building for the future. But that being said, you're also trying to compete today. So I want to see these guys go out there and compete, and see which guys go out there and battle and play the game. It's a time where it's frustrating because we're not winning games. But it's also a time that we can learn a lot about the guys that we have moving forward.”

PHILADELPHIA – Let’s play a little more “Get to Know You” with the new guys, shall we?

Luke Voit and MacKenzie Gore are the only two of the six-player return for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in Tuesday’s trade to join the Nationals so far. They each took separate red-eye flights Wednesday night to meet the team at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday afternoon.

They both met with the local media for an extended period of time, although they were at their respective lockers in the visitors' clubhouse instead of a formal press conference like the one rolled out for Soto and Bell in San Diego.

Yesterday, Voit and Gore talked about their experiences getting traded only a couple of days ago. It was the third time for the first baseman and the first time for the young left-hander. They also addressed what they expect to bring to the Nationals organization in terms of leadership and as a new top prospect.

But what about their actual play? What kind of players did the Nationals get and what can fans expect to see on the field?

PHILADELPHIA – The aftermath of the trade deadline is sometimes just as chaotic for players as the actual trades. Once the deals are done, players have to pack up their belongings, say their goodbyes and sometimes uproot their families to move to another city and get acclimated to a whole new clubhouse.

That was the case for Luke Voit and MacKenzie Gore, two of the six players the Nationals received for trading Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres on Tuesday. The pair not only had to deal with all of the logistics of being traded, but they also had to travel across the country (each by way of different red-eye flights) and meet their new team on the road in a different city.

Voit wasn’t the Nationals’ first choice as the veteran to be included in the trade. With the five prospects already agreed upon and Bell packaged with Soto, the Nationals originally sought veteran first baseman Eric Hosmer to fill the void at first base. But Hosmer exercised the no-trade clause in his contract as the Nationals were one of the 10 teams he would need to give permission to be traded to.

That didn’t derail the deal, however, as the Nats were satisfied in pivoting to Voit to complete the trade and Hosmer was sent to the Red Sox. Voit found out before the Padres’ unusual doubleheader at Petco Park against the Rockies on Tuesday.

“Obviously, a little bit surprising,” Voit said in front of his new locker with a No. 34 above it. “Obviously, you never know what can happen in this game. There was kind of a weird trade going on, with the no-trade clause with Hos. I obviously didn't expect to get traded and then right before our doubleheader, I found out like 10 minutes before the game. You know what, it's a fresh start. It's a lot of new faces. I'm excited about a new opportunity.”

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals hit the road for the second half of this week-long stretch against divisional opponents. Tonight’s opener of a four-game series will be the first of 11 games remaining between the Nats and Phillies this season.

The Nats are 2-6 against the Phils through their first eight matchups and are 9-38 against the National League East.

Luke Voit and MacKenzie Gore, two of the six players received in Tuesday’s Juan Soto-Josh Bell trade with the Padres, are meeting the Nats in Philly today, with Voit making his first start with his new team. The veteran first baseman slashed .225/.317/.416 with a .733 OPS, 13 home runs and 48 RBIs in 344 plate appearances with the Padres.

Gore is on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation. He will meet with the training staff and be examined by team doctors so they can formulate a rehab plan.

Paolo Espino makes his third start against the Phillies and second at Citizens Bank Park this season tonight. Espino is 0-3 with a 3.78 ERA this season and 0-3 with a 4.95 ERA in nine starts. He gave up four runs in 3 ⅔ innings in a start here on July 5.