It’s a special occasion when a pitcher makes his major league debut, all the more so when he starts the game, and especially when he enters that start as a highly touted prospect who could figure prominently into the organization’s long-term plan.

So make no mistake, Cade Cavalli’s big league debut tonight is a big deal for the Nationals, who desperately need their 2020 top draft pick to realize his full potential and help lead this rebuilding pitching staff for years to come.

Cavalli will be the 28th starting pitcher to make his major league debut for the Nationals since 2005, and that list is littered with long-forgotten names (Shairon Martis, J.D. Martin, Taylor Jordan) who never really amounted to anything. It also includes a few other highly touted prospects, some of whom did go on to realize their full potential for the Nats (Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann) or for other clubs (Lucas Giolito).

What’s most notable, though, is the lack of prominent pitching debuts for this franchise in recent years. Cavalli is only the sixth Nats starter to make his major league debut the last four years, joining the likes of Austin Voth (2018), Wil Crowe (2020), Joan Adon (2021), Evan Lee (2022) and Jackson Tetreault (2022).

The last first-round pick to debut as a starter was Erick Fedde in 2017. The last one to debut with significant fanfare was Giolito in 2016. And the last one to actually earn the win in his first career start was none other than Strasburg way back on the glorious night of June 8, 2010.

The Nationals waited 4 1/2 months for Cade Cavalli to arrive from Triple-A and finally provide a much-needed big arm to a rotation that has struggled all year long.

Now that the hard-throwing right-hander is on his way to D.C. to make his highly anticipated major league debut, here’s the irony: The Nats rotation is currently in the middle of its best stretch of the season.

During their just-completed, six-game road trip to San Diego and Seattle, Nationals starters more than held their own against a couple of playoff contenders. They collectively posted a 2.79 ERA, holding opponents to nine total runs across 29 innings. Go back over their last 14 games, and that ERA is still a respectable 3.91 (nearly two runs better than the group’s worst-in-the-majors 5.89 mark for the entire season).

There’s been so much improvement, the Nats could afford to demote Cory Abbott (who allowed two runs over six innings in his most recent start), first to the bullpen and then to Triple-A following Wednesday’s 3-1 win over the Mariners. And they might also end up moving Paolo Espino to the bullpen after he starts Saturday, no matter the result, because they’ll have five other starters with Cavalli joining the mix.

Combine that kind of competent work from the rotation with the continued strong performance of the bullpen (2.02 ERA since Aug. 13) and you get the best sustained period of pitching the Nationals have had all year.

SEATTLE – The focus of the remainder of the Nationals’ season is going to be on the handful of young players they’re now trying to build around, a group that will see its highest-profile addition yet Friday night when top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli makes his major league debut.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still some room for an older player or two to take advantage of the opportunity he’s being given to make a name for himself, and possibly earn his way into the Nats’ 2023 plans as well.

We’ve already seen Joey Meneses do it with six homers in his first three weeks in the big leagues. Now how about Ildemaro Vargas, the 31-year-old utility infielder who has suddenly become the Nationals’ everyday third baseman and just finished off a strong road trip with a bang.

Vargas’ two-run homer off Mariners closer Paul Sewald with two outs in the top of the ninth this afternoon lifted the Nats to an unexpected 3-1 victory in the finale of a brief, two-game series. It was Vargas’ second homer of this West Coast trip, his previous one coming in his first at-bat in San Diego during Thursday night’s win over the Padres.

"I've always worked hard to get an opportunity like this one, to where I get an opportunity to play every day," Vargas said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I'm very thankful to the team, the organization, for the opportunity I've gotten. I'm just trying to take advantage and keep working hard and contribute any way I can."

SEATTLE – Cade Cavalli – and Nationals fans – don’t have to wait any longer. The organization’s top pitching prospect will make his major league debut Friday night.

Manager Davey Martinez made it official today, confirming the 24-year-old right-hander will start Friday’s series opener against the Reds, with a plan to have him continue to pitch every five or six days the rest of the season.

“We’re excited,” Martinez said. “He’s checked a lot of the boxes. With that being said, with all of our young guys, part of the process is patience. We’re going to get him up here and get him going, and see how he does. But he’s done well in Rochester, really well, as the numbers will indicate.”

Cavalli’s season-long numbers at Triple-A (3.71 ERA, 1.175 WHIP, 104 strikeouts in 97 innings) are solid but not spectacular. But over his last 13 starts, he’s been electric (2.10 ERA, 1.019 WHIP, 77 strikeouts in 68 2/3 innings), capped off by a 109-pitch outing Saturday against Worcester in which he had seven strikeouts through his first three innings.

In promoting him now, the Nationals have set it up for Cavalli to make his first two starts at home against non-contenders (Friday vs. the Reds, Sept. 1 vs. the Athletics) before the team faces mostly NL East contenders during the season’s final month.

SEATTLE – It feels like the Nationals just got here, but they’re already set for the finale of a two-game series with the Mariners. Tough scheduling, coming all the way out here for 36 hours. They’ll try to at least split the series with a victory today, hoping they can score some runs, especially early, which has been a recurring problem for them.

They’ll take their cracks at Seattle right-hander George Kirby, the 24-year-old who makes his first career start against the Nats. He’s been quite good this summer, allowing 11 total runs over his last seven starts for a 2.63 ERA (though they tend to hold him to fewer than 100 pitches).

Aníbal Sánchez gets the start for the Nationals, still seeking his first win and perhaps pitching for his spot in the rotation as the club prepares to make some more changes. Cade Cavalli, the 2020 first-round draft pick and organizational top prospect, is set to make his major league debut Friday night against the Reds, a source confirmed today. We’ll have more on that shortly, but obviously Cavalli’s arrival will bump somebody out of the rotation, and Sánchez and Paolo Espino would seem to be the most likely options.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 77 degrees, wind 7 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
SS CJ Abrams
LF Lane Thomas
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Victor Robles

SEATTLE – Aside from one game at Triple-A right after last summer’s trade, Riley Adams had spent his entire time in the Nationals organization in the majors, finishing out the final two months of the 2021 season in D.C. and then spending the first three months of this season here. So when he was summoned into manager Davey Martinez’s office July 1 and informed he was being demoted to Rochester, the 26-year-old catcher was somewhat taken aback.

Adams, though, decided to try to make the most of a bad situation. In the major leagues, he was starting one or two games a week as Keibert Ruiz’s backup. In the minors, he would start four times a week as the Red Wings’ No. 1 catcher.

“You never want to get sent down. It’s not the best feeling,” he said. “But I saw it as an opportunity to go down there and get at-bats and get as many reps as possible. I tried to take advantage as much as I could. I’m just happy to be back now.”

Adams was back in the Nationals’ clubhouse Tuesday, called back up prior to their series opener against the Mariners, with Tres Barrera optioned to Rochester in a swap of catchers.

Playing time will be more limited now, but manager Davey Martinez did throw Adams right into the lineup Tuesday, with left-hander Robbie Ray on the mound for Seattle and Erick Fedde (who had just made a rehab start for Rochester) making his first start off the injured list. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts but did help guide Fedde through five strong innings in his return to the mound.

SEATTLE – You wouldn’t think it based on the historic negative streak they keep extending every night, but the Nationals are getting good pitching out of their rotation right now. Four times in their last five games, Nats starters have gone at least five innings while allowing one or two runs.

And yet this team has now gone 40 consecutive games without seeing one of its starters earn a win, the longest such streak of futility in modern major league history.

Erick Fedde did his part to try to end the run tonight, tossing five strong innings in his return from the injured list, but it mattered not because the Nationals lineup remained lifeless at the plate, getting no-hit for six innings by Robbie Ray, then settling for Joey Meneses’ solo homer before falling 4-2 to the Mariners.

It was yet another woeful showing by the Nats, who have scored four total runs over their last three games, dropping all three despite their pitchers having allowed only eight runs in those games.

"We've got to get our offense going," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got to put the ball in play a little bit more. We've got to stay in the middle of the field. We've got to get on for our big guys, and they've got to start driving in runs."

SEATTLE – Needing to clear a spot on their pitching staff for returning starter Erick Fedde, the Nationals opted to shift Cory Abbott to the bullpen and designate Tyler Clippard for assignment, likely ending the popular veteran’s second stint with the organization on a sour note.

Clippard could potentially return to Triple-A Rochester if he clears waivers, but manager Davey Martinez suggested the move was made in part to give the 37-year-old more time to catch on with another franchise and finish out the season.

The Nationals’ all-time leader in appearances with 418, Clippard returned to the organization this spring more than seven years after he last pitched for them. A stalwart of their bullpen from 2008-14, he went on to have a long career as one of baseball’s most reliable and durable relievers while pitching for 10 different teams.

The Nats hoped to rekindle some old magic and enjoy a feel-good story when they signed Clippard to a minor league deal in March, but it didn’t come close to working out as hoped. After spending three months performing well at Rochester, he finally was called up in mid-July but made only one appearance before landing on the injured list with a groin strain. He returned healthy two weeks ago but was scored upon in two of his three outings while seeing very little action.

Clippard pitched a scoreless inning during Saturday’s 2-1 loss in San Diego, and that proved to be his final appearance before he was informed of the news today in Seattle.

SEATTLE – The last time the Nationals played here at what’s now known as T-Mobile Park was Aug. 31, 2014. They suffered a 5-3 loss to the Mariners, with Tanner Roark taking the loss and Fernando Rodney recording the save. The only other time the Nats played here prior to that was in June 2008, a series in which Kory Casto hit his only major league home run and Tyler Clippard recorded his first win for the organization, back when he was a starter.

So, yeah, it’s been a while. And sadly, tonight’s return to Seattle also coincides with the end of Clippard’s current stint with the Nationals, and possibly the end of his career. Needing to remove a pitcher from their roster and clear a spot for Erick Fedde, the club decided to designate the 37-year-old Clippard for assignment.

Fedde, who had been on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, starts tonight. And he’ll be working with a new batterymate in Riley Adams, who officially was recalled from Triple-A to take the spot that opened up when Tres Barrera was optioned to Rochester.

Adams will bat seventh against Seattle lefty (and one-time Nationals prospect) Robbie Ray. The rest of Davey Martinez’s lineup includes Alex Call leading off, Joey Meneses batting second, Luke Voit returning from back spasms to bat third and Lane Thomas batting fifth on his 27th birthday. (He’ll have to keep waiting for that first opportunity to bat third in the starting lineup.)

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 10:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 76 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

SEATTLE – Lane Thomas has been in the Nationals’ lineup each of the last eight games. During which time he’s started in each of the three outfield positions. And held five different spots in the batting order.

Yep, Thomas batted fourth and started in right field Aug. 14 against the Padres. He batted eighth and started in center field Aug. 15 against the Cubs (shifting to right field in the ninth inning). He batted fifth and started in left field Aug. 16 against the Cubs (shifting to center field in the eighth inning). He batted first and started in center field Aug. 17 against the Cubs. He batted eighth and started in center field Aug. 18 against the Padres (shifting to right field in the ninth inning). He batted first and started in right field Aug. 19 against the Padres. He batted seventh and started in right field Aug. 20 against the Padres. And he batted fifth and started in right field Aug. 21 against the Padres (shifting to center field in the ninth inning).

And that’s just Thomas’ itinerary from the last eight days. Look back at the whole season, and you’ll see he’s batted in all nine spots for manager Davey Martinez at least once.

“We actually looked it up in the cage the other day: I’ve literally hit everywhere in the lineup this year,” he said. “I didn’t start a game hitting third, but I came in for (Yadiel Hernandez). But I’ve hit in every single spot in the lineup.”

Sure enough, only three weeks ago Thomas did replace Hernandez (who was batting third) late for defense during the Nationals’ Aug. 2 win over the Mets. He even singled in his one and only at-bat that night.

Way back in early June, when the Nationals were languishing with the worst rotation in baseball, we wondered if the day might be coming soon when they would have a whole new set of starters pitching for them, guys who not only would be more effective than the current group but also would be younger and part of the organization’s long-term plan.

Here we are entering the final week of August, and unfortunately that hasn’t been the case at all. The Nats’ last five games have been started by Cory Abbott, Anibal Sanchez, Paolo Espino, Josiah Gray and Patrick Corbin.

Yes, they’ve been far more effective than they were nearly three months ago. But outside of Gray, nobody else from this quintet realistically is going to be part of the long-term plan around here. Even Erick Fedde, set to return from a shoulder injury Tuesday in Seattle, remains a shorter-term solution, something of a bridge starter until younger, more promising prospects arrive.

But when will they actually arrive? Will we actually see anybody new and intriguing before season’s end?

By all accounts, yes. It’s going to require a little more patience, though.

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals have been selected to play in next year’s Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa., against the Phillies, Major League Baseball announced tonight.

The Nats and Phillies will face off Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023 at historic Bowman Field, home of the collegiate summer baseball league Williamsport Crosscutters, a short drive from the annual site of the Little League World Series, which will be taking place throughout that week.

It’s the first time the Nationals have been selected for any of Major League Baseball’s various neutral-site games, which over the years have included trips to London, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Japan and Australia, plus the Field of Dreams in Iowa, the College World Series in Nebraska and Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Created in 2017, the Little League Classic is a "Sunday Night Baseball" game televised by ESPN. It will count as the finale of a weekend series hosted by the Nats, with the two teams playing in D.C. the previous two nights before heading to Williamsport only for the day, visiting the actual Little League World Series in the afternoon. Players from the participating Little League World Series will then attend the Nats-Phillies game in person that evening.

The annual event has previously included the Pirates (twice), Cardinals, Phillies, Mets, Cubs, Angels, Guardians and tonight’s competitors: the Orioles and Red Sox.

SAN DIEGO – Ask Davey Martinez if he’d be satisfied to get a 2.86 ERA out of his pitching staff over a full week, and the Nationals manager wouldn’t just say he’s satisfied. He’d jump for joy out of his shoelaces.

Martinez has been waiting all year for a sustained stretch of quality pitching like this, the kind of stretch he used to expect from his star-studded rotation of 2018-20 but hasn’t realistically been plausible this season.

Ah, but here’s the rub: Just as the Nats pitching staff has put together its best weeklong stretch in ages, the Nats lineup has gone limp. That group, admittedly depleted by trades and injuries, has scored only 23 runs over the same seven games, four of which have now been losses.

Today’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Padres was the latest and most aggravating of the bunch. Less than 24 hours after losing by the exact same score via a pair of solo homers from former teammates Josh Bell and Juan Soto, the Nationals lost today’s game via a two-run homer from Bell, who accounted for all of San Diego’s offense.

Bell’s opposite-field shot off Patrick Corbin in the bottom of the sixth was all the Padres needed. That’s because the Nats managed just one run-scoring hit of their own, and that was Nelson Cruz’s towering (but solo) homer to left in the fourth.

SAN DIEGO – Erick Fedde will come off the injured list and start Tuesday night in Seattle, with Cory Abbott moving to the bullpen for now as the Nationals make the first of several expected changes to their rotation heading into the season’s final month.

Fedde, out since July 25 with right shoulder inflammation, emerged from Wednesday’s rehab start for Triple-A Rochester and a subsequent bullpen session here at Petco Park with no issues and is cleared to come off the 15-day IL for the Nats' series opener against the Mariners.

“Fedde is ready,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He said he felt good, so he’ll start on Tuesday.”

The right-hander’s return necessitates the removal of someone from the current rotation. Martinez said for now that will be Abbott, who is available out of the bullpen for this afternoon’s game against the Padres and could either remain in a relief role moving forward or be optioned to Triple-A once Fedde is officially activated.

Abbott has made four starts for the Nats this month, going 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA, though he has allowed three or fewer runs in three of the four outings. He made three previous relief appearances this summer.

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals are playing some competitive baseball these days. They’ve gone 3-3 over their last six games, but two of the losses were by one run and the other one went to extra innings. They’ve managed to do that despite a lackluster (and depleted) lineup, thanks to quality pitching. During this six-game stretch, their staff ERA is an impressive 2.95, and they’ve surrendered only 34 hits in 55 innings.

The challenge today, then, is for Patrick Corbin to keep that run going. The bar for Corbin, obviously, isn’t very high. But he did at least give his team a chance in his last start, allowing four runs over six innings to the Cubs. As much as the Nats bullpen has been used this week, Davey Martinez would love to get six decent innings from his starter today. He could then go to the trio of Hunter Harvey, Carl Edwards Jr. and Kyle Finnegan (in some order) to close things out, because none of them pitched during Saturday night’s 2-1 loss.

The Nationals lineup remains depleted. Luke Voit hasn’t played since Thursday due to back spasms. Yadiel Hernandez is on the 10-day injured list with a calf strain. Keibert Ruiz gets a well-deserved day off after catching the first three games of the series. We’ll see if anyone else can step up and produce against Padres left-hander Sean Manaea, who doesn’t tend to go very deep in games. He hasn’t topped the 100-pitch mark since June 28, and he hasn’t reached the sixth inning since July 31.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 75 degrees, wind 9 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
CF Victor Robles
LF Alex Call
1B Joey Meneses
DH Nelson Cruz
RF Lane Thomas
2B César Hernández
SS CJ Abrams
C Tres Barrera
3B Ildemaro Vargas

SAN DIEGO – As well as they had done against Juan Soto and Josh Bell through the first five games they played against their former teammates, the Nationals had to know it was only a matter of time before both sluggers broke through in a big way.

They just hoped it wouldn’t happen against them. Certainly not within the same ballgame.

Alas, Soto and Bell decided tonight was the night to bust loose. And thanks to the solo homer each current Padre hit, the Nationals were left to suffer a 2-1 loss at Petco Park.

The Padres didn’t do much else at the plate, and they continue to make their fans sweat as they try to turn a potent-on-paper lineup into a potent-in-reality lineup. But all they needed tonight were those two big blasts to emerge victorious.

"Those guys, you know what kind of players they are," manager Davey Martinez said. "Bell got a ball up where he handles. And Soto got a ball, I think, right down the middle. Two good hitters."

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals lost another bat from the middle of their lineup today when outfielder Yadiel Hernandez was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain, leaving them scrambling to put together a batting order from a roster that has been ravaged by physical ailments and trades.

Hernandez had to come out of Thursday night’s series opener against the Padres when his lower left leg cramped up. He sat out Friday’s game, then underwent an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. When that test came back showing a calf strain, the Nationals placed him on the IL (retroactive to Friday).

“It’s a strain, so he’s going to work really hard to get back as soon as possible,” manager Davey Martinez said. “There’s no saying how long it’s going to take. He’s kind of frustrated, but I told him you’ve just got to work hard to get back. There’s nothing you do. He’s been playing well, has helped us in the middle of the lineup. Hopefully we get him back soon.”

Hernandez is hitting .269 with 16 doubles, nine homers and 41 RBIs in 94 games this season, starting in left field most nights against right-handed pitchers. He batted third in Thursday’s game, evidence of the current state of the Nationals’ depleted lineup.

Hernandez’s injury comes at the same time Luke Voit has been unable to play due to back spasms. The veteran first baseman sat out Friday’s game, and though he was initially in tonight’s lineup, he was scratched again about two hours before first pitch with the issue still lingering.

SAN DIEGO – It’s been a crazy season for the Nationals, but here’s the craziest stat of all that defies explanation: Against the National League East, they’re a pathetic 9-42. But against everyone else, they’re a respectable 32-38. That includes a 3-2 record against the Padres, thanks to two straight wins to open this weekend’s series. Now we’ll see if they can keep it going tonight.

Quality pitching has defined the last two wins, but the bullpen has been pretty taxed. After pitching back-to-back nights, you’ve got to assume Kyle Finnegan, Carl Edwards Jr. and Victor Arano are all unavailable tonight. So Davey Martinez might feel compelled to push starter Josiah Gray a bit deeper, just as he did in last outing against the Cubs.

The Nationals will be facing Joe Musgrove, who they did not see in last week’s series in D.C. The San Diego native is 8-6 with a 2.98 ERA, but over his last nine starts he’s actually 0-6 with a 5.00 ERA. We’ll see if the Nats can string some runs together early for a change, and not just wait until the top of the ninth to rally.

Update: Luke Voit has been scratched from the lineup again tonight.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRES
Where: Petco Park
Gametime: 8:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

SAN DIEGO – As he watched the chaos unfold before his eyes from his perch in the on-deck circle, Alex Call saw the Nationals take the lead against the Padres in the top of the ninth and saw his opportunity to expand on that lead with Lane Thomas now standing at third base after Josh Hader’s three-base throwing error changed the entire complexion of Friday night’s game at Petco Park.

“OK, time to drive this guy in,” Call thought to himself.

Davey Martinez had the same thought, and with the count 0-1 on Call, the Nats manager gave the safety squeeze sign, hoping the 27-year-old rookie could get the bunt down and get Thomas home to extend the lead to two runs.

Except Call proceeded to foul the squeeze attempt straight back into the backstop, leaving himself in an 0-2 count and taking the bunt out of the equation altogether.

“When I didn’t execute, there’s a lot of things that go through your mind,” he said. “So you’ve really got to step back, take a deep breath and then get into my normal two-strike mode, which is: ‘I believe I’m the best two-strike hitter there is. He’s got to bring a good pitch.’

SAN DIEGO – They went to the ninth all knotted up, for the second straight night. The Nationals’ bullpen kept holding the Padres’ supposedly superior lineup in check, just trying to give its lineup an opportunity to push across the go-ahead run.

And when the San Diego bullpen gate swung open and Josh Hader emerged, the Nats had themselves exactly the opportunity they needed.

For the second straight night, they took down the suddenly slumping All-Star closer. And for the second straight night, they emerged with an inspiring victory over a shell-shocked Padres team and its crowd, this time by the score of 6-3.

"We're battling. And we're actually finishing games," manager Davey Martinez said. "The last couple of days have been really good. And even before then, we fell short, but we're playing a lot better."

Hader faced three batters in the top of the ninth in what had been a tie game. He walked the first one, Victor Robles. He uncorked a three-base throwing error on a tapper toward the mound by the second one, Lane Thomas. And then he served up a two-run homer to the third guy, Alex Call, whose first career major league blast was an especially memorable one.