DETROIT – Josiah Gray will make his next rehab start Friday, but Cade Cavalli is taking a break in his rehab assignment to work in the bullpen with the Nationals coaching staff.

Gray, who threw 43 pitches over three innings Sunday for Single-A Fredericksburg in his rehab debut, is scheduled to take the mound again Friday, moving up to Double-A Harrisburg and increasing his workload. The right-hander, who went on the 15-day injured list after two rough starts to his season with a flexor strain in his elbow, said he was pleased with the physical state of his arm after his first competitive game in nearly two months.

“It was good,” he said. “Definitely a little rusty, working out the kinks. But I felt prepared. I felt good for each inning that I threw and worked on some things. Looking forward to the next one.”

Gray allowed three runs on three hits (all for extra bases), with one walk, two strikeouts and a hit-by-pitch in Sunday’s outing. He said he focused mostly on his fastball and cutter and will look to incorporate his full arsenal as he proceeds.

Manager Davey Martinez suggested Gray could make as many as five rehab starts in total before coming off the IL. That timeline wouldn’t have him rejoining the Nationals until the end of the month or perhaps even early July.

DETROIT – Hello from Comerica Park, a place the Nationals have not visited often in their history. This is only their fourth trip to Detroit, the previous ones coming in 2010, 2013 and 2019. They’ve gone 2-6 in the previous series here, so it’s not exactly a history of success.

The Nats, though, are feeling good about themselves again after winning three of four from the Braves over the weekend, then finally getting to enjoy their first day off in 2 1/2 weeks. So they’ll be refreshed and ready to go tonight when they open this three-game series.

This would’ve been Patrick Corbin’s turn in the rotation, but the Nationals decided to skip over the struggling left-hander and put him on the mound Saturday against the Marlins instead. So it’s Mitchell Parker, pitching on full rest anyway, taking the ball for the opener. It’s another opportunity for the rookie to show what he can do against a lineup that’s never seen him before.

The Nats lineup will try to keep hitting the way it did over the weekend against Atlanta, this time against veteran right-hander Kenta Maeda. The 36-year-old is struggling himself in his first season in Detroit, entering tonight’s game with a 6.25 ERA in 10 starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at DETROIT TIGERS
Where: Comerica Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 71 degrees, wind 8 mph in from center field

Davey Martinez found himself in a most unusual, and most comforting, scenario Sunday afternoon. His Nationals entered the ninth inning leading the Braves by six runs, one day after they had beaten the Braves by four runs.

Here was a second straight opportunity to win a ballgame without needing to summon either of the team’s top two relievers: Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan. That hasn’t happened much this season for a team that typically plays low-scoring, tight contests.

“I really wanted to give (Finnegan) and Harvey another day,” Martinez said, realizing with an off-day prior to the Nats’ series opener in Detroit tonight, this was a chance to let those two right-handers enjoy some real rest for a change.

So with his team leading 8-2, Martinez sent Jordan Weems to the mound for the top of the ninth. He sent word to let Finnegan know to be ready to spring into action if need be, but the hope was that it would never come to that.

Two batters later, the bullpen phone was ringing after Weems allowed a leadoff single to Michael Harris II followed by a walk of Orlando Arcia. And before Finnegan could even throw his first warmup toss, Weems had allowed a three-run homer to Jarred Kelenic. Suddenly, this was an 8-5 game with nobody out, the top of the Atlanta lineup coming up and an emergency brewing.

There was a moment in the top of the second inning Sunday when it felt like DJ Herz was about to crumble.

The rookie left-hander, in only his second career start, had cruised through the top of the first but then during a four-batter span the following inning had given up two runs after issuing two walks, allowing two singles and uncorking two wild pitches, the last of which came after back-to-back, high-and-tight fastballs to Jarred Kelenic that left the Braves left fielder contemplating whether he needed to charge the mound.

And then Herz, who had been known in the minors to let a game get away from him from time to time, battled back and struck out Kelenic on his next pitch before getting Ozzie Albies to fly out on the pitch after that. The inning was over, and Herz had thrown 33 pitches, but only the two runs had crossed the plate.

“I’m proud of him,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “Because a situation like that, and a good team like that, he was able to get composed and throw strikes when he needed to, get out of a big jam there and keep us in the ballgame.”

Herz wasn’t credited with his first big league win at the end of the day. Because he didn’t complete the requisite five innings, he couldn’t get the W, which instead went to reliever Jacob Barnes at the official scorer’s discretion. But he impressed nonetheless during his 4 1/3 innings, the majority of which featured plenty of outs and few baserunners.

To swing or not to swing at the first pitch? That is the question the Nationals have confronted too regularly this season with a lineup that preaches an aggressive approach but often takes things too far and makes way too many quick outs that make life way too easy on opposing starters.

And for three innings today, it looked like that approach was once again going to be their undoing, with a rapid flurry of outs made against a rookie in his major league debut.

Here’s the thing, though: Across the sport, hitters have better numbers on the first pitch than almost any potential count. And as much as it feels like they struggle in this department, the Nats actually hit .332 on the first pitch, slightly better than the leaguewide average of .330.

So by sticking to the aggressive approach, and most importantly actually making hard contact, the second time around, the Nationals exploded for their biggest offensive inning of the year and went on to beat the Braves 8-5 to complete another series win over their division rivals, this one before an appreciative crowd of 34,282.

"Look, I don't mind being aggressive. We talk about it all the time," manager Davey Martinez said. "But you've got to get the ball in the zone. We can't just swing at everything. It's talked a lot in the dugout about it. And then when they finally do it, the results are a lot better."

The Nationals are using a long-awaited off-day to skip over Patrick Corbin’s next turn in the rotation.

Corbin, who last pitched Wednesday against the Mets, was lined up to make his next start Monday. With the Nats set to enjoy their first day off since May 23, he would normally be on the mound Tuesday for the team’s series opener in Detroit.

But the Nationals’ announced rotation for that series against the Tigers has Mitchell Parker on Tuesday, followed by Jake Irvin and MacKenzie Gore. They haven’t announced their rotation plans beyond that, but Davey Martinez suggested this morning Corbin will start Saturday against the Marlins, which means he would be pitching on nine days’ rest instead of the usual four.

“Just to give him a little bit of a breather,” Martinez said. “We take care of all our young guys, but we’ve got to take care of our veteran guys, too.”

The Nats have often used scheduled days off to adjust their rotation order, but that’s usually an attempt to give young starters extra rest, managing their workload over the course of a long season. In this case, the move likely has more to do with Corbin’s continued struggles than anything else.

DJ Herz makes his second career start today. And he’ll be more experienced than the guy he’s going up against in the Nationals’ series finale against the Braves.

Yep, Atlanta’s starter is Hurston Waldrep, called up from Triple-A Gwinnett to make his major league debut less than one year after he was drafted out of the University of Florida. Waldrep is the organization’s top prospect, and he’s supposedly got a devastating splitter. But he made only one start at Triple-A, and the Braves decided to bring him up instead of pitching Max Fried today. Fried will be pushed back two days to face the Orioles.

So the Nats, who have already won two of the first three games of this series, now seemingly have a better chance of winning three of four against the Braves for the second time in two weeks. They’ll still need to figure out Waldrep at the plate. And they’ll need Herz to be better than he was in his debut last week.

The left-hander, who replaced the injured Trevor Williams in the rotation, held his own against the Mets. But he still wound up charged with four runs in four-plus innings, two of those runs scoring after he departed in the fifth. The nerves should be a little less severe today for Herz, so we’ll see how he handles this assignment.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 16 mph left field to right field

The Nationals and Braves have played each other enough over the last two weeks – seven of their last 10 games, to be precise, with one more still to come Sunday – to have seen everyone the other side has to offer, oftentimes more than once. It’s as good as any way to judge the progress a young, rebuilding club has made against an established powerhouse.

And at this point, it’s impossible not to be encouraged by the Nats’ ability not only to hold their own against the Braves, but to at times look like the clearly superior team.

Today’s 7-3 victory was the latest in a string of examples to support that conclusion. Behind another strong (if inefficient) start from MacKenzie Gore and a much-appreciated display of sustained offense, the Nationals improved to 5-2 against Atlanta during this stretch. And three of those games have been won by four or more runs.

No, it’s not appropriate to say the Nats are the Braves’ equals at this point. Even with these losses, Atlanta is 35-27 and comfortably in the pennant race. Even with these wins, the Nationals are 29-35, part of a large pack of sub-.500 clubs that could climb into the race with a hot streak but aren’t there yet.

But the gap is undoubtedly closing after several years of head-to-head matchups that looked as lopsided as any in the sport. (The Nats went 5-8 last season, 5-14 the season before that, against the six-time division champ.) And that’s wholly encouraging for the local ballclub.

Nick Senzel knew. And even if he didn’t know, his teammates made sure to let him know.

The Nationals have used 17 position players this season. And until the fourth inning Friday night, 16 of those players had successfully stolen at least one base. The only holdout on the team: Senzel.

So when it finally happened, with Senzel swiping second behind CJ Abrams’ swipe of third as part of a double-steal that proved critical in the Nats’ 2-1 victory over the Braves, the dugout celebrated accordingly and Senzel responded in a perfectly self-deprecating manner: He held up an index finger and said, “That’s one!”

“Oh, they knew I was the last player on the team,” he said today. “That’s why I was holding up the one finger when I got to the bag, just trying to make it fun for them. They were giving me a hard time, but it’s all fun and games.”

The Nationals lead the majors in stolen bases, with 97 in total entering today’s game. And the distribution has been spread around in impressive fashion; even the team’s three catchers used so far (Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Drew Millas) have done it.

The Nationals’ 2-1 win Friday night was arguably one of their best of the season, with Jake Irvin outdueling Chris Sale in front of a sellout crowd. Now they try to keep it going today with another talented young starter taking the mound.

Like Irvin, MacKenzie Gore was really good when he faced the Braves a mere 10 days ago in Atlanta, striking out 10 with zero walks and allowing one earned run in 5 1/3 innings. He was not, however, good five days ago against the Mets when he was roughed up for six runs in 4 1/3 innings and struck out only two. It was one of the left-hander’s only blowups so far this season, as evidenced by the fact his ERA is still a solid 3.57, but he can’t let that become a trend and needs to get back on track this afternoon.

The Nationals are facing a familiar opponent in Charlie Morton, and they hit the veteran right-hander quite well two weeks ago, to the tune of eight runs on 12 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Four of those runs came in the top of the first, and you better believe Davey Martinez is pleading with his guys to get off to a good start again today.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 10 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
DH Eddie Rosario
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Nick Senzel
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young

It's been a weird stretch for the Nationals. One week ago, they were feeling really good about themselves, having just won series over both the Mariners and Braves. Since then, they've lost a series to the Guardians, been swept by the Mets and lost Thursday night's series opener to the Braves despite the fact Mitchell Parker carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning.

The Nats also lost Trevor Williams to an injury that's going to sideline him for a while, called up DJ Herz to make his major league debut and are counting down the days until Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli are ready to come off the injured list. But about that lineup that has now been held to two or fewer runs in 25 of 62 games played this season ...

Let's take some time this morning to answer your questions about the team. Please submit your inquiries in the comments section below, then check back later for my replies.

Having already passed just about every test thrown his way in his first two months in the majors, Mitchell Parker stared down a new challenge tonight: Face an opponent for the second time, and ideally try to beat that club again.

Parker did everything he could to pass the test, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Braves and a shutout into the seventh. But he ultimately departed with no-decision after surrendering a game-tying homer in the seventh, and was forced to watch and see if his teammates could pull off the win late.

They could not. Hunter Harvey, one of the most reliable late-inning relievers in the sport, gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, and the Nationals lineup did nothing against the Atlanta bullpen en route to a disheartening 5-2 loss.

The Nats’ fourth straight loss bore some resemblance to the previous ones in their inability to produce at the plate early on. This one differed from the others, though, in the manner the back end of their bullpen gave up the decisive runs late.

"We've played some good teams lately, and it just seems like on nights we hit and pitch, they're just not on the same night," right-fielder Lane Thomas said. "We took some good swings tonight. You've just got to take more than two off a team like that."

The Nationals’ offensive identity this season was established early in April. Knowing they weren’t likely to hit for much power, they decided their best chance at scoring runs was to get on base and then use their speed abilities to get around the bases as quickly as possible.

Two months later, the Nats lead the majors with 95 stolen bases, with four individuals already in double digits and three others with eight steals.

But they’re also getting thrown out a decent amount, especially in recent games. The Nationals have been caught stealing 24 times in total, third-most in the majors. And they’ve been caught 10 times in their last 14 games, a particularly rough stretch that has at times cost them.

That drop in success rate, from 85 percent through their first 47 games to 64 percent during these last 14 games, coincides with the team’s scoring output dropping from 4.1 runs to 3.8 runs per game. Manager Davey Martinez sees a correlation.

“I think we’re trying to push the envelope a little too much because we’re not scoring any runs, and that happens because as a team we start pressing and trying to make things happen,” he said. “I think we’ll get back to (stealing successfully) as soon as our guys start swinging the bats better. The success rate will definitely go up.”

This homestand started off in miserable fashion for the Nationals, who were swept by the Mets and didn’t look particularly good in the process. They now have to try to salvage things with a four-game series against a team that on paper is far more intimidating in the Braves.

The good news: The Nats just took three of four in Atlanta last week, so they should feel confident about themselves entering this matchup. They won those three games thanks to some stellar pitching, including another quality start from the guy who takes the mound tonight: Mitchell Parker.

Parker allowed three runs while reaching the seventh inning in that game at Truist Park. The rookie left-hander tonight makes his 10th career start, and he has yet to surrender more than three runs in any of them. This will, however, be the first time he faces an opponent a second time, so it will be very interesting to see if he or the Braves make any adjustments.

On the mound for Atlanta is old friend Reynaldo López. The 30-year-old right-hander made his major league debut for the Nationals way back in 2016, then was part of the blockbuster trade with the White Sox for Adam Eaton. He’s had an up-and-down, nomadic career since and is now pitching for his fourth organization in the last two years, but he’s been outstanding so far since joining the Braves: a 1.73 ERA and 1.081 WHIP in 10 starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Storms ending, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

April was an especially encouraging month for the Nationals, who played .500 ball for the entire month and saw one of their most important young players take his game to another level.

In that opening month to the season, CJ Abrams put forth a titanic offensive slash line: .295/.373/.619. He got on base. He stole bases when presented with the opportunity. He scored runs. He drove in runs. He drove in himself. It was to be just the beginning of a breakthrough season for the 23-year-old shortstop.

Then came May, and with it a precipitous drop in production. Abrams slashed a far less impressive .205/.216/.304 in the season’s second month. He didn’t get on base. He didn’t steal bases. He didn’t score as many runs. He didn’t drive in as many runs.

And with an 0-for-3 showing Wednesday in the Nationals’ 9-1 loss to the Mets, Abrams’ prolonged slump continued. He’s now batting a mediocre .246 with a .293 on-base percentage and .446 slugging percentage.

Is it any wonder the Nats are 13-19 since May 1, making that April of success feel like a distant memory?

The Nationals came home Sunday evening rightfully feeling good about themselves after a winning road trip against a pair of contenders. Next up: a three-game series against a Mets team in disarray in advance of its weekend trip to London to face the Phillies.

What ensued: A three-game sweep at the hands of that supposedly unraveling Mets club that featured two ugly pitching performances, an injury to one of the team’s best starters to date and precious little production from a lineup that has been the roster’s weak link for two months now.

Consider today’s 9-1 shellacking before the fans who waited out a rain delay a new low point to the season. Patrick Corbin was rocked once again. The Nationals lineup looked helpless against Luis Severino. And by day’s end, it was Davey Martinez’s bunch that looked ready to leave town, not the guys heading to England.

"Rough series," Martinez said. "But we can't feel sorry for ourselves. We've got another tough team coming in (the Braves this weekend). We've got to be ready to play tomorrow."

Outscored 23-11 during the sweep, the Nats held a lead after only one of the 27 innings they played. They saw MacKenzie Gore get roughed up for six runs in 4 1/3 innings Monday. They made David Peterson throw only 81 pitches in 6 2/3 innings Tuesday. And today they suffered the worst of both worlds, with Corbin shelled for six runs in 5 1/3 innings while the lineup made Severino throw only 72 pitches through seven scoreless innings before finally plating a run in the eighth.

Josiah Gray is ready to pitch in a competitive game again.

Gray, who has spent nearly two months on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his forearm, has been cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment. The exact date and location hasn’t been finalized yet, but manager Davey Martinez suggested it’s most likely to come Sunday at Single-A Fredericksburg.

“I would like to send him to the closest affiliate for now, because I want him to come back here after he pitches,” Martinez said. “So if Fredericksburg is home, that’s probably where he’ll go.”

The Fred Nats indeed are home Sunday afternoon against Kannapolis, so that appears to be the answer.

Gray landed on the IL on April 9 after two rough starts to his season. He slowly built his arm back up and in recent weeks pitched in three simulated games against teammates. The last of those came Tuesday when the right-hander threw 65 pitches over three innings.

The Nationals are scheduled to play the Mets at 4:05 p.m. today. The Mets are scheduled to fly to London after the game in advance of their weekend series against the Phillies. And it’s scheduled to begin raining here later this afternoon. So this creates a bit of a predicament.

The good news: The Mets are back here the first week of July. So there’s really little reason for the Nats and Major League Baseball to wait around for a long time in hopes of playing today. A postponement would not be surprising.

But until we hear otherwise, we’ll assume they’re going to play. And if they do, the Nationals will need a win to avoid what would be an awfully disappointing sweep at the hands of the team that trails them in the standings and was kind of in disarray when it arrived in town at the start of the week.

The Nats need to hit, and they need to hit early and not wait until the New York bullpen takes over. They face Luis Severino this afternoon, and the veteran right-hander has been solid overall (3.52 ERA, 1.172 WHIP) but has allowed five runs in two of his last three starts (against the Marlins and Diamondbacks). In between, he dominated the Giants. So who knows what you’re going to get.

Patrick Corbin has this start for the Nationals, coming off back-to-back quality starts against the Mariners and Guardians. The lefty was quite bad last season in three starts against the Mets, allowing 14 runs and 21 hits in only 15 2/3 innings.

There’s nothing more tempting in baseball than to try to predict a team’s pitching plan for both the short-term and long-term. And there are few exercises that almost always turn up results that don’t come to fruition.

Way back in March, as the Nationals prepped for the season in West Palm Beach, it seemed a given that Trevor Williams’ hold on the fifth spot in the Opening Day rotation was tenuous at best. Shoot, there even seemed to be a reasonable chance he would lose the job to spring training invitee Zach Davies. Then Davies had a blowup start that led to his release and Williams retained his starting job entering the season.

Even so, the leash on Williams figured to be short, especially on the heels of a miserable 2023 season. A couple of bad weeks to begin April and he might be bumped to the bullpen, opening the door for Jackson Rutledge (presumably the first-man up at Triple-A) to get his shot.

Then Williams got off to a great start to the season, and instead the opening in the Nats rotation came via injury to Josiah Gray. The choice to replace Gray wasn’t Rutledge (who was off-schedule at the time) but Mitchell Parker, who was thrown to the wolves at Dodger Stadium and conceivably could be sent back to Rochester one or two rough starts into his career.

Then Parker exceeded everyone’s expectations and now has solidified his place in the big league rotation for the foreseeable future. And alongside the improving MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, plus the still-effective Williams, the Nationals had four quality starters giving their team a chance to win every time they took the mound.

DJ Herz’s major league debut wasn’t the fairytale Mitchell Parker experienced two months ago at Dodger Stadium. Neither was it the nightmare suffered by countless other Nationals rookies over the last decade.

Herz wasn’t great in his first career start. Neither was he bad. The rookie left-hander pitched with some confidence, escaped a couple of early jams, then began to succumb as his evening progressed.

In the end, Herz allowed two runs while he was in the game, plus another two that were charged to him after he departed in the top of the fifth. And because his teammates did very little at the plate themselves, he wound up charged with the loss as the Nationals fell 6-3 to the Mets.

"He was a little nervous," manager Davey Martinez said. "He was sweating like crazy out there. But you know what, in big moments he kind of settled down and threw strikes and looked really good."

The Nats hoped for something more akin to Parker’s sparkling April debut in Los Angeles, when the unheralded rookie left-hander struck out Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani, went five strong innings and became the franchise’s first starting pitcher to win his major league debut since Stephen Strasburg.