García returns to lineup, Sánchez starts again in Rochester

ATLANTA – Less than 24 hours after exiting Thursday’s series finale in Philadelphia, Luis García is back in the Nationals lineup for the series opener in Atlanta. A sigh of relief can be heard throughout the organization.

Ehire Adrianza replaced García at shortstop in the bottom of the seventh inning of the 5-3 loss to the Phillies after García grounded out to lead off the top of the sixth, clearly grimacing and holding his right side as he jogged back to the dugout. Manager Davey Martinez said after the game that the young shortstop was dealing with a "stomach issue.”

It must have been a quick bug, similar to what Nelson Cruz dealt with when Martinez scratched him from the lineup late Tuesday with an illness. García is feeling well enough to play tonight.

“He had an upset stomach yesterday,” Martinez said during his pregame session with the media. “He said he woke up, he felt a lot better. So I told him to make sure he drinks a lot of fluid. It's hot. So we'll keep an eye on him. He said he feels good.”

García felt something coming on before yesterday’s game, but told his manager he was good enough to play. He ended up getting worse as the game went on.

“Before the game, he didn't feel that good. But he said he didn't feel that bad either. And all of a sudden he felt really bad,” said Martinez.

The Nationals’ slumping offense cannot afford to have García miss any length of time. Since his arrival on June 1, he is slashing .326/.333/.473 with 11 doubles, one triple, two home runs, 14 RBIs, one walk, one stolen base and 12 runs scored. His 42 hits since that date rank fourth in the National League, his 11 doubles are tied for fourth and his .326 average is sixth. He’s also hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games.

It is a long season, so small illnesses are bound to make their way through the clubhouse at some point. Martinez is just hoping they’ve already nipped this one in the bud.

“Well, we recommend he wear a mask so that we could try and keep everyone (else) away from being sick,” he said. “So we'll see. But, as we all know, once one guy gets sick, we gotta be careful.”

García seemed to be feeling fine before tonight’s game. He was seen sitting at his locker with no issue and talking (even singing) with teammates before getting through infield drills and batting practice with no obvious issues.

Meanwhile at Triple-A Rochester, Aníbal Sánchez is making his fourth minor league rehab start, third with the Red Wings. He’ll face the Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate at Lehigh Valley.

Over his first three outings, he has a 5.35 ERA, 12 strikeouts and five walks in 10 ⅓ innings. 

But he’ll look to build off his last outing on Sunday, when he struck out seven over 4 ⅔ innings against Worcester (Red Sox).

“He says he feels good. But we still got to build him up,” Martinez said of the veteran right-hander. “We got to understand that he's missed a lot. He didn't pitch for a while, so we want to make sure that when he comes back, he's healthy. So hopefully, we get him at least five innings, maybe 75 pitches, and then we'll see what happens from there.”

Sánchez, who has been on the 60-day injured list with cervical nerve impingement, last pitched in the majors on Sept. 26, 2020, so it has been close to two full years since he last took the mound for a big league game. The Nationals want to be extra cautious with him before letting him rejoin the club.

“We're looking at everything,” Martinez said of how the Nationals will know when Sánchez is ready. “My biggest thing, like I said, when he comes back is that he's fully healthy. But we're watching his mechanics. We get a lot of stuff, video from the games that he's pitching. So we'll keep an eye on all that stuff. But like I said, it's just building him up. He hasn't pitched in a couple years, so we want to get him right.”