Nats adjust rotation for Corbin's paternity leave, Gore's workload

ST. LOUIS – The Nationals will open the second half of the season with a change to their pitching staff, but only a temporary one.

Patrick Corbin was placed on the paternity list prior to tonight’s series opener against the Cardinals, with Paolo Espino recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take his roster spot for the weekend.

Corbin’s wife, Jen, gave birth to the couple’s second son, Miles, during the All-Star break. Because the Nats had the luxury of rearranging their rotation coming out of the break, they decided to let the veteran left-hander skip this entire weekend in St. Louis. Corbin is slated to rejoin the team in Chicago and start Tuesday’s game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

It’s the second time Corbin has gone on leave in recent weeks. He went on the bereavement list on June 30 following his grandmother’s death, but he didn’t miss a start because that time off came between a pair of outings.

Espino won’t be starting in Corbin’s place. The 36-year-old right-hander will be available out of the bullpen as a long man, the same role he held when he was briefly called up from Rochester at the end of June.

In deciding how to arrange the members of his rotation coming out of the break, manager Davey Martinez had to consider multiple factors. Corbin’s availability was a primary factor; otherwise, he likely would’ve started either tonight or Saturday.

Martinez also wanted to make sure Josiah Gray stayed on the turn following his one-inning appearance in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in Seattle. Thus, Gray will start Sunday’s finale against the Cardinals.

Trevor Williams, the other veteran in the rotation, got the assignment for tonight’s opener and will thus also start Wednesday’s finale in Chicago. That left MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, two young starters whose workloads are being monitored closely the rest of the way.

Martinez decided to give Gore extra time off now, pushing the left-hander to Monday’s game against the Cubs. He’ll end up on 10 days rest, and even that doesn’t fully reflect how much rest he’s getting because he threw only 17 pitches in a rain-delayed outing July 6 against the Reds.

The Nationals already skipped one of Irvin’s turns in the rotation in early June, and though they’ll look to do that again later this summer, they’ll have the rookie start Saturday night here in St. Louis on six days’ rest.

“We’ve got so many young guys, and want to make sure we keep their innings where they need to be,” Martinez said. “We don’t want to tax them. And some of these guys, especially our younger guys, are coming off arm injuries. We want to make sure they’re on schedule to do what we think they’re going to do, and build them up. …

“It’s going to be a little chaotic. What I don’t want to do is shut them down. I want them to finish the season, so when they go into the offseason they have a plan and they’re ready to go. We’ll have to see how that happens.”