Lester won't make game debut until at least next week

Jon Lester's Nationals debut won't come quite as soon as everyone initially hoped it might.

The veteran left-hander, recovering from surgery to remove his thyroid gland, is now back in West Palm Beach, Fla., and picking up where he left off when he departed town last week for the procedure. But despite some thought at first he might pitch in a Grapefruit League game by the end of this week, the club has now decided to bring him along a bit slower.

"He did some exercises yesterday, he did some leg workouts today," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "He feels OK. He's going to go out and play catch today. So we'll see how he feels after he plays catch. But we're going to probably hold him back a few more days."

Lester will need to throw off a bullpen mound and then face live hitters in a controlled environment before he pitches in a game against another opponent. His turn in the Nationals rotation comes up Friday, which is actually an off-day for the team, so his first start now should come sometime next week.

Even under that plan, Lester could still pitch four times before opening night (one fewer start than his rotation mates), though one or more of those potential outings might need to come in a B game or simulated game against teammates because of the Nationals' schedule.

"He feels good, but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves right now," Martinez said. "He's doing everything he can to get back as soon as possible. We're going to make sure that he's fully recuperated and ready to go before we get him in an actual game."

With four more scheduled off-days still on this spring's calendar and no split-squad games planned among the five clubs that train on Florida's East Coast, the Nationals are going to play several B games before official Grapefruit League games.

The first will come Wednesday morning against the Cardinals, a 10 a.m. opener before the two teams' regularly scheduled 1:05 p.m. game at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Several young pitchers are expected to throw in the early game, including top prospects Cade Cavalli and Jackson Rutledge.

"For us, it's important," Martinez said. "We have so many pitchers in camp and so many guys we need to start getting stretched out. We've got to figure out how to get these guys innings. Having these 'B' games helps a lot. These guys will get a chance to pitch in these games in the morning. I know for the coaching staff, I apologize to them because there will be some long days. But we need to get these guys ready. This is part of spring training. And I'm actually looking forward to watching these young guys compete."