About 2 ½ years ago, Cole Henry’s career in professional baseball faced a major setback. After thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August 2022, the idea of him pitching again came into serious question. And his chances of making the major leagues with the Nationals were slim-to-none.

But the right-hander continued to work his way back, trying to overcome a procedure that had consumed the careers of Stephen Strasburg, Will Harris, Matt Harvey and others.

One thing Henry had going for him was his age. He was only 23 when he had the surgery, so he had more time to recover his body, which hadn’t yet been worn down by numerous professional seasons. That also meant, however, he had a whole career ahead of him that could possibly be taken away before it ever really started.

Henry wouldn’t let it.

After years of rehab and carefully planned pitching schedules, Henry finally got the call to the majors this past weekend and made his big league debut Sunday against the Marlins.

MIAMI – It’s become a tradition unlike any other when the Nationals visit Miami. It’s for an unfortunate reason, but it’s still a welcomed sight nonetheless.

For the third year in a row, while recovering from his March 2023 Tommy John surgery, Cade Cavalli made the trek down from West Palm Beach to meet the Nats at loanDepot park.

In the past, Cavalli has met the Nats there to be around the team fresh off his surgery or to throw in front of the major league coaches during his rehab. But this time, instead of showing Davey Martinez and Co. how he has progressed in his recovery, Cavalli was showing them how he’s ramping up for the season.

Cavalli threw a two-inning sim game in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, totaling 35 pitches with his fastball sitting between 94-97 mph. He then threw an “in-between-starts” bullpen session Friday to get ready for his next “outing,” which should be at some point today back at the team’s spring training facility.

“It was great,” Cavalli said of his sim game inside the Nats clubhouse Friday afternoon. “It's always good being able to be back on the mound and pitch. We threw on Wednesday two innings, and then we have another one coming up on Monday. I threw a bullpen today. Arm's responding well, stuff feels good. So very excited.”

MIAMI – On Opening Day, MacKenzie Gore flashed the electric stuff that could make him one of the elite starting pitchers in baseball. Against a tough Phillies lineup, he struck out a career-high and Opening Day club-record 13 batters over six shutout innings.

Outings like that are the ceiling for the 26-year-old left-hander. The plan for him this season is to raise his floor by being more consistent throughout the year.

Today’s outing against the Marlins, unfortunately, epitomized the inconsistency Gore tends to battle.

In an 11-4 loss to the Fish, Gore had an up-and-down start throughout his six innings. Here’s how he fared in each frame in terms of pitches thrown and runs allowed: nine and zero, 25 and one, six and zero, 27 and two, 15 and zero, 23 and one.

That added up to eight hits, four runs, three walks and seven strikeouts on 105 pitches, 64 strikes.

MIAMI – The Nationals made another roster move ahead of Sunday’s finale against the Marlins, placing right-hander Orlando Ribalta on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 10) with a right biceps strain and recalling right-hander Cole Henry from Triple-A Rochester.

"It'll be his first time in the major leagues, we're excited about that," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's a guy that could give us some multiple innings. He threw the ball really well in spring training. So he gets an opportunity to come up here and help us win games out of the bullpen.”

Ribalta, 27, hasn’t pitched in a game since Tuesday, when he threw 58 pitches over three innings in a bullpen-game win over the Dodgers. But after that outing, he told the Nats his arm was feeling tight and he wasn’t recovering as he normally does.

“A couple days ago, he was throwing and he said he just felt tight,” Martinez said. “So I said, 'Hey, just take your time. Keep throwing, see what we got. Go work with the trainers.' He just didn't rebound very well. This is day three or four now, so we just decided to put him on the IL and give him some time.”

The 6-foot-7 reliever had an MRI this morning and will go back to D.C. to start building up strength while the team heads to Pittsburgh. The Nats are hopeful Ribalta can play catch when they get back from this 10-day road trip.

MIAMI – The Nationals can still leave South Beach with a series win over the Marlins. Hopefully, they’ll get a complete team effort today to close it out.

MacKenzie Gore will lead the charge on the mound. The left-hander is 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA, 1.059 WHIP and a league-leading 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Gore held a tough Dodgers lineup to just two runs with seven strikeouts over six innings in his last start. He’s set up to have another good day today, coming in with a 2-1 record, 2.22 ERA, 0.781 WHIP and 11.5 strikeouts per nine innings in four career starts against the Marlins.

The Nationals offense will look to stay hot against Cal Quantrill. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA and 1.444 WHIP over two starts to begin his first year with the Marlins. But after giving up six runs in four innings against the Mets, he shut out the Braves over five frames in his last start. The seven-year veteran is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA and 1.177 WHIP in four starts against the Nats.

Davey Martinez should have all of his high-leverage relievers available today to shut the door late if needed.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot park
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field

MIAMI – Even though Trevor Williams only made 13 starts last year due to a right flexor muscle strain, he pitched well enough to earn a new two-year, $14 million contract from the Nationals over the offseason.

When he was on the mound in 2024, the right-hander was effective, going 6-1 with a 2.03 ERA. The key was simple: Induce weak contact, limit the damage to singles and keep the ball in the yard while facing the order twice. By doing that for roughly five innings, he gave the Nats a good chance to win every five days.

Now back healthy this year, the plan remains the same. Through his first two starts of 2025, Williams stuck with that attack plan. But today against the Marlins, he couldn’t quite keep it together for five innings en route to a 7-6 loss in front of an announced crowd of 18,469 at loanDepot park.

The afternoon was moving along quickly for the 32-year-old. Through the first two innings, he only gave up a solo home run to Matt Mervis leading off the second while throwing a scant 18 pitches.

But he started off the second by giving up three straight singles (the last being a bunt) to load the bases and a sacrifice fly to Kyle Stowers. Williams then reloaded the bases with a walk and allowed another run to score on a wild pitch to give the Marlins a 3-0 lead.

MIAMI – The Nationals’ fears from last night were realized this morning following CJ Abrams’ MRI on his right hip. The examination revealed the young shortstop has a right hip flexor strain, forcing him to the 10-day injured list.

“After last night, he got an MRI today and it showed a slight strain,” manager Davey Martinez announced to start his pregame media session. “Like I said before, I talked to him today about just, hey, let's get this thing to calm down and give you some time and get it right, so this doesn't become a bigger issue. So in a week and a half, hopefully he'll be ready to go.”

Abrams sat out the first two games against the Dodgers this week with what was originally labeled as right thigh tightness from the final play of Sunday’s win over the Diamondbacks, in which he charged in to field a grounder and threw off-balance to first base. The shortstop clarified the injury was actually in his right hip later in the week.

The 24-year-old was then removed from last night’s win over the Marlins in the fourth inning. He struck out and walked in his only two plate appearances, and stole second base after his free pass in the third. He had to stretch out his arm to stay on the bag, initially re-aggravating his hip injury. Abrams tried to play through it, but in the bottom frame, he fielded a grounder moving to his left and made an off-line throw to first in a similar manner to what he did on Sunday.

In his place, Paul DeJong slid over to play shortstop and Amed Rosario came off the bench to play third base and hit in the leadoff spot.

MIAMI – After a wild, come-from-behind victory to start the series, the Nationals will be looking to jump ahead early in this afternoon’s contest against the Marlins.

In order to do so, they have a tough challenge ahead of them in Miami ace Sandy Alcantara. The former Cy Young Award winner has made two starts this season after missing all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander has gone 1-0 with a 3.72 ERA, 0.931 WHIP and 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings over 9 ⅔ frames to start his 2025 campaign.

In 15 career starts against the Nats, Alcantara is 7-6 with a 3.42 ERA and 1.202 WHIP.

The Nationals will counter with Trevor Williams making his third start of the year. The right-hander is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA and 1.700 WHIP while completing five innings in each of his previous two starts.

Williams is 1-4 with a 4.95 ERA and 1.331 WHIP in 14 career appearances, nine starts, against the team that drafted him back in 2013. But he held the Marlins to one run over five strong innings in his lone start against them last year.

MIAMI – When Josh Bell returned to the Nationals this offseason, he knew he was being brought in to mainly do one thing: hit for power.

Yes, Bell had played a lot of first base throughout his previous nine years in the major leagues, including the 1 ½ seasons during his first stint in Washington. But the Nats had already acquired Nathaniel Lowe, a Gold Glove Award winner at first base, in December via a trade with the Rangers in exchange for left-handed reliever Robert Garcia.

So it was that Bell would be the everyday designated hitter in manager Davey Martinez’s lineups while also backing up Lowe at first. This allowed Bell to focus on hitting the ball in the air to increase his home run output and slugging percentage.

But that didn’t mean Bell could just let his glovework at first fall to the wayside. He still needed to be able to play defense if, for whatever reason, Lowe wasn’t in the lineup.

Well, his first opportunity to play the field in 2025 came in Friday night’s opener against the Marlins. And it came at the last minute, so Bell had to be ready for it.

MIAMI – After a very successful homestand during which they went 4-2 against two contenders in the Diamondbacks and Dodgers, the Nationals have embarked on their first extended road trip of the season against teams with lower expectations.

The 10-day trip started tonight against the Marlins, who the Nats beat 11 times in 13 games last season. And while this opener started ominously, it resulted in a 7-4 comeback win in front of an announced crowd of 9,094 at an open-roofed loanDepot park.

Before the first pitch was ever thrown, the Nationals scratched Nathaniel Lowe, one of their most productive hitters and key defenders at first base, from the starting lineup because he was feeling under the weather.

“He's sick,” manager Davey Martinez said after the win. “But I talked to him before the game. I said, 'Look, if we have an opportunity to use you to pinch-hit, can you do it?' And he looked at me and said, 'Yeah, I think I can.' And I said, 'Alright, I'll check back with you.'”

In Lowe’s place, Josh Bell moved to first base, James Wood served as the designated hitter and Alex Call was inserted into the lineup in left field.

MIAMI – The Nationals rotation is set for this weekend, with Mitchell Parker, Trevor Williams and MacKenzie Gore lined up to face the Marlins. Then, Jake Irvin will be ready to start Monday’s series opener in Pittsburgh. But by Tuesday, manager Davey Martinez will need a fifth starter.

That fifth spot was reserved for Michael Soroka, the right-hander who signed a one–year, $9 million contract with the Nats over the offseason. But the 27-year-old was placed on the 15-day injured list on April 4 (backdated to April 1) with a right biceps strain after leaving his season debut following his third pitch of the sixth inning in Toronto.

Soroka was charged with five hits, four runs, one walk and three strikeouts in his five-plus innings against the Blue Jays. And although landing on the IL this early in the season is never a good thing, the Nats believed he wouldn’t be down for long.

He played catch on Tuesday back at Nationals Park, and while he felt good, the Nats do have to build him back up before he can be ready to return to game action again.

“He threw the other day. He said he felt good,” Martinez said during his pregame media session ahead of the series opener against the Marlins. “So we just got to build him back up now. So hopefully, we get him back soon.”

MIAMI – The Nationals have embarked on their first extended road trip of the season after only playing one series away from the friendly confines of Nats Park. That series resulted in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays in Toronto, so the Nats will be looking for better results over the next 10 days in Miami, Pittsburgh and Colorado.

First up: A weekend series in The 305. The Nats dominated the Marlins last season, winning 11 of their 13 matchups. They also won five of the six games played here at loanDepot park, with the lone loss coming in the last game in walk-off fashion.

Mitchell Parker makes his third start of the young season looking to improve his winnings streak. The left-hander is 2-0 so far with a 0.73 ERA and 1.216 WHIP. He went 1-0 with a 1.10 ERA and 1.041 WHIP in three starts against the Fish last year.

The Marlins activated Edward Cabrera off the 15-day injured list to make his first start of the season. The right-hander was dealing with a blister on his right middle finger and could be on a limited pitch count tonight. He’s 2-3 with a 4.02 ERA and 0.957 WHIP in six career starts against the Nats, including 0-2 with a 4.35 ERA and 0.774 WHIP in starts against Washington in 2024.

The roof is open here at loanDepot park, so weather may actually play a factor in this National League East matchup in South Beach.

After the Nationals started 1-6, they have won four of their last five games. Winning cures all. Spirits are high.

But the Nats do find themselves with one problem. Don’t worry, it’s a good one to have.

There is a bit of an outfield conundrum forming in the Nats dugout, thanks to a scorching-hot start from Alex Call.

Call made the Opening Day roster as the fourth outfielder coming off the bench. Manager Davey Martinez announced early in spring training he was going to run out James Wood in left field, Jacob Young in center and rookie Dylan Crews in right on a daily basis to start the season.

But Crews struggled out of the gate, going hitless in his first 19 at-bats. Then Young was given a reset over the weekend after frustrations started to mount following his 1-for-15 start over his first eight games.

The Nationals have put together their first winning streak of the new season by winning their last three games in a row against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. There were plenty of noteworthy plays over the last three days, but let’s take a look back at the one that started it all.

It wasn’t made by the hero you might expect. It wasn’t one of the young starting pitchers nor one of the budding young stars nor one of the savvy veterans brought in over the offseason.

No, this streak-starting play was made by backup catcher Riley Adams on Saturday night.

The Nats were in danger of seeing their two-run lead in the ninth inning completely disappear. Closer Kyle Finnegan issued a leadoff walk and saw the baserunner eventually come all the way around to score and make it a one-run game.

The leadoff runner advanced to second base on a wild pitch, moved to third on a flyout and scored when Finnegan and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe couldn’t connect for a groundout at first.

The Nationals beat the Diamondbacks 5-4 on Sunday to win their first series of the season. But 245 miles away on Long Island, another milestone was being reached. One that has slightly more historical significance in the sporting world.

Alex Ovechkin, the iconic captain of the Washington Capitals, scored his 895th career goal yesterday, breaking Wayne Gretzky’s 31-year-old record to become the National Hockey League’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Fittingly, Ovechkin’s historic goal against the New York Islanders came on a power play from the left circle. Right from his office. As it should have been.

It was the shot heard around the world, with fans, athletes and celebrities from all walks of life congratulating the greatest goal scorer to ever live. And that rang true on South Capitol Street back home in Washington, D.C., where the Nats were playing.

The Nationals showed the goal highlight on the big screen at Nats Park and congratulated Ovechkin in between the first and second innings, while the crowd of 14,528 gave The Great 8 a standing ovation with an “OVI” chant.

The Nationals entered Saturday losers of four straight, needing to win two straight games to secure their first series victory of the young season. They got the win yesterday by a score of 4-3. The task to win Sunday would be difficult against Corbin Burnes.

But the Nats bats may have found their stride this week, scoring four or more runs in all three games against the Diamondbacks. Their most impressive outing may have been this afternoon, staying patient against and peppering Burnes early on their way to a 5-4 victory in front of 14,528 fans at Nationals Park.

For the third consecutive game, the top of the Nats' order jumped out to an early lead in the first. CJ Abrams drew a leadoff walk against Burnes, then moved to third on Luis García Jr.’s single to right field. Nathaniel Lowe drove in the first run and Alex Call drove in the second a few batters later to give the Nats a 2-1 lead after the first.

After the D-backs tied the game in the top of the second, Paul DeJong led off the bottom frame with a double to left, moved to third on a flyout to right and scored on Abrams’ sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.

Burnes hit Josh Bell with a pitch and walked Call with two outs in the third to set up DeJong’s RBI double to left to make it a 4-2 game. Call tried to make it a two-run hit, but was thrown out at the plate, the second time a Nats player was called out at the dish.

Jacob Young will sit for the second straight day as the Nationals finish their three-game series against the Diamondbacks. Alex Call will play right field as Dylan Crews shifts to center, as was the case when Young sat Saturday against Arizona left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.

Call starting against a left-hander yesterday wasn’t questioned due to his career .740 OPS against southpaws versus Young’s .678. But against right-hander Corbin Burnes, it was a wonder why the starting center fielder wasn’t back in the lineup.

“I talked to him a couple days ago. We're just doing a reset on him,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame press conference. “He's got a little frustrated just (with) how he is swinging. We saw some things that we wanted to address. He's been working the last two days on his swing, so he'll be back in there tomorrow.”

Young is 1-for-15 (.067) with a double, three walks, two strikeouts and 1-for-3 stolen bases in seven games. He’s only started six of those games, coming in as a pinch-runner Wednesday in Toronto but getting caught stealing for the final out in a loss.

“Well, one, he's diving to home plate,” Martinez said. “He's not seeing the ball away from him. He's not catching up to the ball inside. So we just want to address the issue and get him going.”

For the first time this season, the Nationals are in position to win a series.

The Nats will look to build upon the eight runs they put up in the first two games. But they will have a tough task against Diamondbacks starter Corbin Burnes. The right-hander is making his second start of the six-year, $210 million contract he received from Arizona over the offseason after he finished fifth in American League Cy Young Award voting in his one year with the Orioles.

Burnes was charged with four runs (two earned), four hits and three walks with eight strikeouts over 4 ⅓ innings in his Arizona debut against the Yankees. He did give up two home runs to that dangerous New York lineup, so maybe the Nats can follow the Bronx Bombers’ footsteps and take Burnes deep a couple of times this afternoon.

Today was supposed to be Michael Soroka’s second start in a Nationals uniform, but a right arm biceps strain landed him on the 15-day injured list. So instead it will be Trevor Williams taking the mound for his second start. Thanks to Thursday’s off-day, the right-hander will be on normal rest. Williams gave up 10 hits (all singles) and three runs in his 2025 debut against the Blue Jays, but for the most part had a solid five innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 57 degrees, wind 8 mph in from left field

The Nationals finally broke through last night with the offensive output they’ve been desperately looking for in the new season’s first week. They just couldn’t sustain it throughout the full nine innings in a series-opening loss to the Diamondbacks.

Then today, after the inaugural 2005 team was inducted into the Ring of Honor in front of 25,916 fans at Nationals Park, they did it again. Only this time, their early lead held up throughout the course of the game en route to just their second win of 2025.

The Nationals’ 4-3 win over the D-backs wasn’t anything spectacular. But it was an overall clean game of baseball, one of the few these Nats have played thus far.

James Wood led the way, as he might often be called upon to do this season, from the jump. Literally.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. launched a deep fly ball to left field, only to see Wood use all of his 6-foot-7 frame to leap and rob him of extra bases at the wall.

The Triple-A season began last week, with the Rochester Red Wings starting off 2-3. The rest of the minor league season begins today, with the Nationals’ Double-A, High-A and Single-A affiliates throwing out the first pitches of their seasons.

Let’s take a look at the rosters on the Nats farm and where some of the top prospects are beginning the year (with rankings in MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Nationals prospects and Top 100 prospects list in parentheses) …

TRIPLE-A ROCHESTER

Pitchers: Daison Acosta, Joan Adon, Garvin Alston, Andrew Alvarez, Hyun-Il Choi, Clay Helvey, Andry Lara (No. 16), Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Konnor Plikington, Carlos Romero, Jackson Rutledge, Jack Sinclair, Chase Solesky, Tyler Stuart (seven-day injured list, No. 14), Patrick Weigel

Infielders: Darren Baker, Jackson Cluff, Brady House (No. 3), Trey Lipscomb, Nasim Nuñez, Paul Witt, Juan Yepez