After very long night, Nats take it easy prior to series opener

CLEVELAND – The Nationals clubhouse was mostly empty three hours before tonight’s series opener at Progressive Field, only a few players lounging around and chatting while the rest waited to take a late bus to the ballpark following an exceptionally late night of travel.

A 7:20 p.m. getaway night game in Atlanta was bad enough. Then a lengthy delay with the team’s charter plane meant the Nats didn’t finally check into their Cleveland hotel until nearly 5 a.m.

Suffice it to say, Davey Martinez canceled batting practice and told everyone to report to the park later than usual, hoping they would get some much needed rest in the meantime.

“We pushed the buses back a little bit, but these guys are all getting ready,” Martinez said during his 5 p.m. pregame session with reporters. “A lot of them are already in the cage. We’ll have our (pre-series scouting) meetings and try to get ready to go.”

The Nationals weren’t pleased with the scheduling of their four-game series against the Braves, which began with a 4:10 p.m. Memorial Day affair but then concluded with three straight 7:20 p.m. starts. This also comes during a tough stretch of 17 consecutive scheduled game days, with their next day off still a ways away on June 10.

But they know there’s nothing they can do about it and will try to make the best of a bad situation, buoyed by their strong play of late. The Nats just won three of those four games in Atlanta and now head into this weekend series against the red-hot Guardians feeling good about themselves.

“We’re in a big stretch right now, so we’re trying to cut back on the workload,” Martinez said. “With the flight last night, we just wanted to give the guys a break a little bit.”

* Cade Cavalli emerged from Thursday night’s rehab start feeling strong, and the Nationals are making plans for his next outing early next week.

Cavalli, who had previously started two games for the team’s Rookie-level team in the Florida Complex League, moved up to Single-A Wilmington and tossed 2 2/3 hitless innings against Bowling Green. He did walk three batters, hit another and threw a wild pitch, ultimately allowing two runs to score. But he stuck out five, built up his pitch count to 54 and reached 98 mph with his fastball.

“It was good to see him pitching for an affiliate. And hopefully in five days, he’ll do it again,” Martinez said. “Now it’s just about competing, going out there and starting to get comfortable on the mound facing hitters, pitching in high-leverage situations. That stuff all has to come back to him.”

* Josiah Gray is scheduled to throw one more live batting practice session before the Nationals decide if he’s ready to go on a rehab assignment.

Gray, out since mid-April with a flexor strain in his elbow, has already thrown twice to live hitters, including Thursday afternoon in Atlanta. He’ll ramp up to 50 pitches in his next outing, then perhaps start a minor league game for one of the team’s affiliates.

* Jose A. Ferrer will throw off a bullpen mound Saturday, the first time the left-hander has done that since straining his lat muscle in spring training.