ST. LOUIS – Trevor Williams has a partial tear of his elbow ligament, one that will require a surgical procedure that will sideline the Nationals' right-hander until at least early next season, possibly most of the season.

An MRI taken of Williams’ elbow revealed a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament. Because it’s not a full tear, doctors believe it can be treated with an internal brace procedure, the relatively recent, less-invasive surgery that allows a pitcher to return in approximately nine months. Williams will be operated on next Thursday by Alabama orthopedist Jeffrey Dugas, who did caution the 33-year-old he might actually need to perform Tommy John surgery if the ligament appears to be more damaged once he sees it firsthand.

If the internal brace procedure is all that’s required, Williams was told he could return to pitch next April or May. If the ligament has to be reconstructed via Tommy John surgery, he would miss most – potentially all – of the 2026 season.

“It’s unfortunate that’s what it is,” he said. “But I’m glad that we’re going to be able to fix it and get it right.”

The news comes as a blow both to Williams, who made only 30 combined starts the last two seasons due to arm issues, and to the Nationals, who re-signed him to a two-year, $14 million contract over the winter.

Just as they’re getting one reliever back from a major elbow surgery, the Nationals are worried another key reliever may have a serious problem with his elbow.

On the same day they activated Mason Thompson off the 60-day injured list, the Nats transferred Derek Law to the 60-day IL and revealed the veteran right-hander will be getting an MRI on his elbow after experiencing a recurrence of pain following his most recent rehab appearance.

Law has been attempting to work his way back since late March, stymied by setbacks on several occasions along the way. The 34-year-old, who made 75 appearances while totaling 90 innings as the workhorse of the Nationals bullpen last season, already was shut down a week recently before coming back to pitch for Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday.

Though that outing (one scoreless inning, one walk, one strikeout) went well, he told team officials he had a recurrence of elbow pain the next day, prompting them to shut him down again and bring him back to D.C. for a new MRI.

“I’m more concerned for him,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Because he wants to come back and help us. The big thing is to figure out what’s really going on. We thought we were over the hump there, but his elbow started barking again. We’ll go get an MRI and we’ll see what the MRI says.”

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Keibert Ruiz has been transferred to the seven-day concussion injured list after a recent diagnosis spurred by continued headaches for the Nationals catcher.

Ruiz was watching from the dugout Monday night in San Diego when teammate Josh Bell hit a foul ball that whizzed past several players and then ricocheted back toward Ruiz, striking him on the right side of the head. Initial tests taken that night did not reveal a concussion, so he was placed on the 10-day IL with a head contusion.

Ruiz was still experiencing headaches in the days after the incident, though, so he was examined again by another doctor, who determined he had suffered what manager Davey Martinez referred to as a “mild” concussion.

The Nats made the transaction to move Ruiz to the 7-day concussion IL, which actually makes him eligible to return Tuesday when the team opens a homestand against the Tigers and Red Sox, three days earlier than he would have been eligible to come off the 10-day IL. He’ll still need to be cleared by a doctor before returning.

“If everything continues to go well, he’ll take that another test in seven days, and hopefully he’s OK to play,” Martinez said.

SAN DIEGO – When he was called up to the big leagues the last two seasons, Drew Millas found himself walking through the Nationals' clubhouse introducing himself to a good number of unfamiliar faces. When he arrived at Petco Park on Tuesday afternoon, the 27-year-old catcher assumed it would be more of the same, until he looked around the room and realized he already knew almost every single player on the current roster.

“I came in and expected to do the usual, like: ‘Hey, I’m Drew. I’m Drew. I’m Drew. I'm Drew,’” he said. “I was just like: ‘Hey, what’s up? Good to see you!’ It’s a good thing to have familiar faces here, and it makes me really comfortable.”

With so many young players who have come through Triple-A Rochester in recent years on the Nationals’ major league roster now, Millas is plenty comfortable in these surroundings. It’s now up to him to take advantage of whatever playing opportunities he gets to convince the organization he should stick around for more than a week or two.

Summoned from Rochester when Keibert Ruiz was placed on the 10-day injured list with a head contusion after getting struck by a foul ball in the dugout Monday night, Millas is now the clear backup to Riley Adams, who takes over as the team’s No. 1 catcher. Manager Davey Martinez said he expects Adams to start the bulk of the games behind the plate, and sure enough he’s back in there for this afternoon’s series finale against the Padres only hours after catching Tuesday’s game.

Millas will probably get one start this weekend in Anaheim, at which point he’ll hope to show the strides he’s made both at the plate and behind it. He opened his season at Triple-A with a disappointing .229/.287/.344 slash line in his first 35 games. In 17 games since, he’s put together a much better .288/.348/.441 slash line, getting back to what he believes he does best.

SAN DIEGO – As he watches his teammates play every night from the dugout, Dylan Crews tries to trick his mind into thinking he’s still a part of the active roster. Deep down, he knows he’s not, and there’s nothing he can do on the field to help the Nationals win. But it’s the only way the rookie outfielder knows how to keep his mind in the right place as he navigates his way through rehab from a strained oblique.

“I’ve been good,” he said today as the Nats prepared to open a three-game series against the Padres. “I’m trying to stay locked in as much as I can. It’s all new to me. I try to stay locked in as if I was playing the game every day. But right now, it’s a different chapter in this whole story. I’m just trying to stay locked in and win my day every day.”

It’s been nearly five weeks now since Crews suffered the injury on a check-swing. The good news: He was finally cleared to travel with the rest of the team on this nine-game West Coast trip, and he recently began taking some very light swings to test his core.

It’s not much. Crews isn’t allowed to take full swings or hit an actual baseball. He’s running at about 85-to-90 percent, he surmised, but only on a treadmill. He’s not doing any kind of work on the field yet.

But he’s making progress, and the prospect of ramping things up looms in the not-too-distant future.

LOS ANGELES – Dylan Crews won’t be making his Dodger Stadium debut this weekend, and it’s probably killing him to have to come to grips with that fact. But the Nationals’ rookie outfielder is here with his teammates at Chavez Ravine, making his first road trip since he landed on the injured list one month ago and finally cleared to begin basic baseball activities.

Crews, out since May 21 with a strained left oblique muscle, took his first swings since suffering the injury Thursday, and the plan is for him to now slowly ramp things up in hopes of getting back on the active roster as soon as possible.

“We’re not putting a timetable on it. We’re just going by how he feels and what the trainers say,” manager Davey Martinez said. “But yesterday he was able to take some really light dry swings, which is definitely encouraging.”

Crews isn’t hitting a baseball yet, nor is he participating in defensive drills with his teammates. But he was thrilled to learn he’d be joining the Nats on this three-city, Southern California trip after being left at home in D.C. for the team’s last two road swings.

That’s a product both of his readiness to begin the kind of baseball activity the team’s coaching and training staffs want to see in person, but also a desire to keep the 22-year-old actively involved even when he’s not actively playing yet.

Riley Adams has received more playing time in recent weeks than at any point in the last year-plus, certainly more than he ever does when Keibert Ruiz is healthy. Each of the Nationals’ catchers has started six games so far in June, a stark contrast from the previous stretch that saw Ruiz behind the plate in 14 of 16 games.

The idea was to get Adams into some kind of rhythm at the plate. The results, though, have been anything but.

Adams currently finds himself in an 0-for-30 slump, reaching base only once (via his only walk of the season), striking out 13 times. His batting average is down to .091 (5-for-55), his OPS down to .325, lowest among all National League players with at least 50 plate appearances.

Manager Davey Martinez said the 28-year-old hasn’t been able to keep his bat in the hitting zone long enough, his hips opening too soon as the bat lags behind. And as the 0-fers have continued, the pressure has only mounted to try to snap out of it, compounding the problem.

“He’s trying too hard to do well. So is everybody else,” Martinez said, referencing the team’s current offensive struggles during a nine-game losing streak. “We’ve got to get him to slow his feet down a little bit. He’s got a tremendous amount of power. Just get him to stay on the ball and not worry about doing much.”

Brady House had just left Innovative Field, taking his girlfriend to the Rochester airport and then making plans to get dinner and pack his bags for an expected week playing in Lehigh Valley when his phone rang. He was told he needed to turn around and come back to the ballpark for a meeting, and suddenly the 22-year-old had a hunch what this was all about.

“I had an idea, but obviously you don’t want to get yourself too excited in case it doesn’t happen,” he said. “I was just trying to get ready for whatever that meeting was.”

House’s hunch was right. Red Wings manager Matt LeCroy told the young third baseman he was getting called up by the Nationals and would be making his major league debut tonight. His girlfriend wouldn’t be boarding that flight. The two of them would be driving together to D.C., with the rest of his family making last-minute plans to fly here and witness a moment they’ve long anticipated.

“I was, honestly, getting ready to go get some dinner and do laundry and all that stuff,” he said. “And then that was the best surprise.”

House will bat sixth and start at third base tonight against Rockies left-hander Carson Palmquist. Manager Davey Martinez says he’ll be out there every day, perhaps bumped down a slot when facing a righty but here to play alongside the organization’s other top prospects who arrived in the majors ahead of the 2021 first-round pick.

Robert Hassell III arrived in the big leagues with a bang, going 2-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base in his first career game, going 3-for-5 with his first homer a week later, then delivering another pair of two-hit games shortly after that.

It’s been a struggle since for the Nationals rookie, though, who is finding out what most every other hitter in major league history has been forced to figure out along the way: Pitchers are going to make adjustments and figure out how to exploit your weaknesses.

“He’s young. He’s up here and trying to figure things out,” manager Davey Martinez said. “They’ve made some adjustments after the first week. He’s got to start making adjustments now on the pitchers.”

The 23-year-old outfielder arrived May 22 to significant fanfare, given his success at Triple-A Rochester and his longstanding reputation as top hitting prospect who was part of the Nationals’ massive package from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade. And nine games in, Hassell was living up to the billing, batting .270 (10-for-37) with six RBIs and a number of quality at-bats that suggested a mature hitting approach for someone so inexperienced. Things have taken a downturn since. Over his last nine games, Hassell is batting just .172 (5-for-29) with one RBI, 11 strikeouts and a .379 OPS.

The biggest concern? The rookie is swinging at everything, both inside and outside the zone. He has yet to draw a walk in 66 major league plate appearances.

NEW YORK – Two rehabbing Nationals took important steps in their respective recoveries yesterday at Citi Field.

Derek Law, recovering from right forearm inflammation, threw a 25-pitch simulated game, with Paul DeJong, recovering from a fractured nose after being hit in the face with a fastball, stepping into the batter’s box against him. Law’s fastball topped out at 93 mph, while he also mixed in his slider and changeup, per manager Davey Martinez.

It was the first time Law has thrown a simulated game against live hitters since spring training, when he was shut down near the end of camp when he felt that his body wasn’t recovering as it would normally. Speaking in front of his locker this morning, the right-handed reliever said he feels good the day after throwing off the mound.

“It was great. For me, the main thing was the recovery aspect,” he said before today’s finale against the Mets. “That was the issue in spring. It wasn't necessarily ramping up. I could always get there. But after those first couple of ones in spring, I needed every bit of, probably, three days to recover. And that was kind of the main issue. Moving forward today, I feel great. The bounceback was there, which, obviously, you need that as a reliever. So I was just really happy with that, mostly. The stuff was there. I need a little bit of fine tuning, probably. But I still have a couple of lives to go, and probably two, maybe three rehab games. I don't know, depending on how I feel. But yeah, everything is good. Recovery is good.”

This injury popped up in March after Law pitched to a 2.80 ERA and 1.178 WHIP in 90 innings over 75 appearances in 2024, by far the most he’s pitched in a single season in his eight-year career, in terms of both innings and games. That workload might have taken a toll on the 34-year-old, as his body failed to recover properly while he was getting ready for this season, a sensation that he finds difficult to put into words.

NEW YORK – Looking to add some “thump” against left-handed pitching, Nationals manager Davey Martinez is deploying his new-look, righty-heavy lineup against the only southpaw starter they are scheduled to face during this three-game series against the Mets.

The most notable addition is Andrés Chaparro serving as the designated hitter in place of Josh Bell and hitting cleanup. Chaparro, who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester yesterday in hopes of being an impact right-handed bat, had two at-bats in last night’s loss after pinch-hitting for Bell in the eighth inning. He knocked a double off left-hander José Castillo into the right-center field in his first major league at-bat since September.

Other notable changes for tonight’s lineup: Amed Rosario is playing third base in place of José Tena and batting second; Riley Adams is catching in place of Keibert Ruiz; and Jacob Young is in center field instead of Robert Hassell III.

So what is Martinez looking for in those right-handed at-bats against David Peterson, who is the owner of a 2.80 ERA and 1.259 WHIP?

“Just work good at-bats,” the skipper said. “Chaparro, as you saw yesterday, he faced a lefty yesterday, he stayed on the ball and hit the ball well to right-center field. So I'm expecting kind of the same thing today. Just kind of stay on the ball and get some good swings off.”

Two of the Nationals’ regulars, each of them struggling mightily at the moment, are getting the day off.

Both CJ Abrams and Keibert Ruiz are sitting for this afternoon’s series finale against the Rangers. That’s a product both of the matchup, with Texas sending left-hander Jacob Latz to the mound to open a bullpen game, and of those hitters’ recent struggles.

Abrams, who hasn’t had a day off since returning from a brief stint on the 10-day injured list April 24, is batting just .169 with a .247 on-base percentage and .312 slugging percentage over his last 19 games. In that time, the 24-year-old shortstop has seen his OPS plummet from .926 to .787, potentially taking him out of All-Star consideration.

“He’s chasing a lot,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We’ve got to get him back in the zone. Everything’s up. He’s got to get the ball down in the zone a little bit. When he does get the ball down, he hits the ball hard. But it’s all about chasing.”

Abrams, who has drawn only two walks over his last 61 plate appearances, has been quite swing-happy of late. He swung at six of the first nine pitches he saw during Saturday’s 2-0 loss before finally working a seven-pitch at-bat in the bottom of the ninth (though that still ended with a strikeout on a cutter up in the zone).

You’re forgiven if you glanced at tonight’s lineup and didn’t recognize three of the names Davey Martinez penciled in for the second game of the Nationals’ series against the Cubs.

Alex Call? Amed Rosario? Nasim Nuñez? They sound vaguely familiar, but it feels like a while since any of them saw the field.

Indeed, none of those three players has been in the Nats lineup since May 25, the finale of their last homestand against the Giants, a full 10 days ago. Not so coincidentally, that’s the last time the team faced a left-handed opposing starter.

“Yeah, it is good to see some of these guys get a chance to play,” Martinez said with a laugh. “Our left-handed lineup has been doing really well. But these guys get an opportunity to go out there and face a lefty today, which is kind of nice.”

The Nationals had faced seven consecutive right-handed starters before tonight. And with only one exception (Riley Adams for Keibert Ruiz behind the plate Friday in Arizona), every member of the lineup in every one of those games batted left-handed.

The Nationals returned home after a week on the West Coast with high spirits. They won four of their six games against the Mariners and Diamondbacks, and now they’re about to begin a highly anticipated series with the Cubs, who own one of the best records in baseball.

And as manager Davey Martinez provided some pre-series updates on a few of his injured players, the good news kept coming as it related to their Gold Glove-caliber center fielder.

Jacob Young, who has been on the 10-day injured list since May 23 (retroactive to May 20) with a left shoulder AC sprain, officially begins a minor league rehab assignment tonight with Double-A Harrisburg. The 25-year-old was able to swing his bat and hit over the weekend, crossing off the final mark on his checklist.

So what’s the plan for Young this week?

“To play,” Martinez said. “He's been doing everything, but he finally started hitting; he felt good. The last two days, he was really taking a lot of swings. We broke it down for him as if he was playing in a game. So now he's just going to go down there and get at-bats. We'll see how he does the next few days.”

SEATTLE – Cade Cavalli is nothing more than a minor league pitcher these days, no longer injured, no longer rehabbing, just trying to earn his way back to the major leagues. The way he’s pitching, he’s starting to make a compelling case for a promotion to D.C.

Cavalli dominated over five innings today for Triple-A Rochester, shutting out Columbus on three hits and a walk while striking out 10. It was the latest, and best, outing for the Nationals’ 2020 first-round pick in his prolonged quest to return from Tommy John surgery more than two years ago.

“I saw the reports,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I heard he threw really well. Ten strikeouts in five innings, which is awesome. That’s great for us, as well.”

Cavalli, who made his one and only major league start in August 2022, had elbow ligament reconstruction surgery in March 2023 and has been trying to make it back ever since. He spent all of 2023 and 2024 on the big league injured list, plus the first 45 days of this season before the club deemed him healthy and optioned him to Triple-A (where he was already pitching on a rehab assignment).

Now that he’s on a regular throwing regimen, Cavalli seems to be finding a groove. Over his last three starts, he’s allowed two total runs across 14 innings, striking out 23 while issuing only three walks.

For the second straight day, a top outfield prospect is making his major league debut for the Nationals after one of the team’s young Opening Day regulars landed on the injured list.

Only 24 hours following Robert Hassell III’s first big league game, Daylen Lile is set to take the field for the first time, the 22-year-old promoted from Triple-A Rochester this afternoon when Jacob Young was placed on the 10-day IL with a sprained left shoulder.

Lile, a second-round pick in the 2021 Draft, has been touted by scouts and club officials alike for several years but was previously hampered by injuries and only reached Triple-A three weeks ago. After tearing up the International League to the tune of a .361/.432/.514 slash line in 18 games, though, he got the call to come to D.C.

How did Lile make it up the organizational ladder so fast?

“Just staying true to myself, staying consistent, staying on my routine,” he said, “knowing that I could possibly make my debut at some point this season. Everywhere I went, my feet were there, and I tried not to rush anything. But, I mean, it came a lot quicker than I thought.”

ATLANTA – The Nationals will take the field at Truist Park tonight looking to snap a five-game losing streak. A loss in the series opener against the Braves will be the Nats’ longest losing streak since they lost six in a row from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2023.

With both the pitchers (20 runs allowed over the weekend against the Cardinals) and the bats (only three runs scored against the Cardinals) recently, where do the Nats begin to turn things around?

“We just gotta focus on the little things,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame meeting with the media. “We're struggling hitting. We just got to come out and swing the bats a little bit better. Our leadoff hitter is doing what he's supposed to be doing. We just got to follow suit. I often talked about swinging at strikes, taking our walks, extending innings. We need to come out and do that today.”

Sure enough, CJ Abrams has been the Nats’ best hitter of late. He has reached base safely in 16 straight games, tied for the longest streak of his career. He’s hitting .379 with five doubles, two triples, seven RBIs, five walks, four stolen bases and 10 runs scored during the streak.

But the rest of the lineup, aside from a few guys here and there, has struggled to produce any more offense. Over these last five games, the Nats collectively are slashing .219/.292/.319 with a .611 OPS. They collected only 10 extra-base hits, while walking only 15 times compared to 37 strikeouts. And seven of those walks came in Wednesday’s finale against the Guardians.

Cade Cavalli returns to the mound tonight, an encouraging development for the rehabbing right-hander and the Nationals, who were holding their breath after he departed his last start with fatigue.

Ten days after throwing only 37 pitches in two innings for Triple-A Rochester, Cavalli is back starting for the Red Wings tonight against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Nats believe the brief layoff won’t disrupt his overall rehab program.

“We’re going to let him go, see how far he can go,” manager Davey Martinez said. “There’s no limitations. He just had 10 days off. I know he threw two bullpens in between then, but we’ll see how he does today. We’re going to let him go, and see how far he can go.”

Cavalli, ostensibly in the final stages of rehab from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery, made three rehab starts in April, dominating at Single-A Fredericksburg and Double-A Harrisburg to the tune of nine scoreless innings. He then moved up to Triple-A for an April 29 start and gave up three runs over two innings, leaving the game early complaining of fatigue.

The Nationals decided to have Cavalli skip his next start and instead throw a couple of bullpen sessions in the interim. They found no cause for concern injury-wise and are confident the 2020 first-round pick will pick up right where he left off and wrap up his rehab stint as planned in the coming weeks.

Josh Bell will sit for the third straight game while dealing with a groin issue that kept him out of the lineup for the final two matchups in Cincinnati.

The Nationals designated hitter tweaked his right groin muscle running out a ground ball in the seventh inning of Friday night’s loss to the Reds. Manager Davey Martinez kept the 32-year-old out of the lineup for the final two games against the Reds as a precaution, especially due to the bad weather all weekend at Great American Ball Park.

But although Bell is feeling better, Martinez continues to practice caution, sitting him again for the opener against the Guardians, his former team.

“He's doing better. I'm being very cautious,” the skipper said during his pregame media session. “We have played in some bad weather. He's a big guy, so I want to make sure that he's OK. But he's definitely doing better. Yesterday he said he was a lot less sore than he was the day before, so that's good.”

Bell has struggled to start the season, hitting .139 with a .528 OPS in 30 games. Although, he is third on the team with five home runs and 14 RBIs. With him sidelined, Alex Call (and his .875 OPS) has the chance to play more, and is manning left field tonight while James Wood serves as the designated hitter.

PHILADELPHIA – Paul DeJong is recovering from surgery Monday to repair a broken nose, plus his sinuses and orbital bone, procedures that collectively are likely to keep the Nationals third baseman out until sometime around the All-Star break.

DeJong, who was hit in the face by a fastball from the Pirates’ Mitch Keller on April 15, had to wait nearly two weeks for swelling around his left eye to go down before the surgery could be performed. He and the Nationals knew all along he would need to have his broken nose repaired, but doctors also decided to work on his damaged sinuses and insert a titanium orbital plate near his eye, according to USA Today.

The 31-year-old infielder is recovering well at home in Northern Virginia and spoke today with manager Davey Martinez about the incident and his timeline for recovery.

“His spirits were good,” Martinez said. “He came out of it good. Joked around with him for a little bit. Unfortunately, he’s still going to be down for a while. I think they said about a month before he can do any activities. And after that, hopefully we get him back sometime around the All-Star break. But we’ll see. Only time will tell now.”

The Nationals’ biggest concern with DeJong now is more mental than physical. The bones will heal, but psychologically he could face a tough time standing in to face a big league pitcher again, given what happened.