Strasburg, Ross ready to face live hitters again

Progress for Stephen Strasburg these days is incremental. Much as everyone would love to know when the right-hander is finally going to make his season debut for the Nationals, nobody really knows the answer yet.

The road to recovery from thoracic outlet surgery, which Strasburg had in late July, is not as clearly defined as the rehab calendar for other more common procedures like Tommy John surgery or to repair a torn rotator cuff.

At this point, any steps are positive steps for Strasburg, who is about to take another important one: After a successful session throwing off a mound today in West Palm Beach, Fla., he is ready to start facing live hitters again.

Strasburg threw 37 pitches during today’s session. Joe Ross, on the same schedule as he returns from early March surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, threw roughly 45 pitches during his session and now is ready to face live hitters as well.

“Both felt good after they threw,” manager Davey Martinez said. “The next plan will be again to get them out there and going to say they’re going to face live hitters. We’ll see how that goes. But they both said they felt good after their bullpens.”

This isn’t the first time Strasburg will have faced live hitters since last summer’s surgery. He did it this month during spring training. But at some point along the way, he told the coaching staff he felt like his mechanics were off, so the decision was made to back off a bit.

Strasburg returned to the bullpen, and this time began throwing out of a windup for the first time in five years instead of pitching exclusively out of the stretch as he has since 2017. “He’s trying to get some more out of his legs that way,” Martinez said.

Now that he feels more comfortable with his mechanics, Strasburg is ready to ramp things up again. He’s still got several hurdles to clear, from facing live hitters to pitching in a simulated game to going on a minor league rehab assignment. At this point, it seems unlikely he would make his season debut for at least another month, and that’s only if there are no more bumps along the way.

The Nationals are comfortable with the plan, recognizing the ultimate objective here.

“It’s been two years removed from (Strasburg consistently pitching). When we get him back, I want him back,” Martinez said. “I don’t want him thinking about mechanics, his arm slot, where he’s landing, all that stuff. I want him to come back crisp, everything clean and be ready to pitch and give as many innings as he can possibly give us without any setbacks.

“That’s the plan. It’s taken a little bit longer, but we’re going to do it the right way, not only for only us but for Stephen as well. He’s been on board, and he’s been really good.”

Other injury updates:

* Sean Doolittle (elbow sprain) and Hunter Harvey (pronator strain) have been cleared to resume workouts and begin strengthening their arms, but neither reliever has been cleared to resume throwing yet.

* Mason Thompson (biceps tendinitis) is not throwing yet, but Martinez said the right-hander is hoping to begin that process when the Nationals return from their upcoming West Coast trip.

* Ehire Adrianza (strained quadriceps) has not begun running yet. The utility infielder recently was transferred to the 60-day injured list, so he’s not eligible to return until June anyway.