You’ll have to excuse Sean Doolittle if he seems a little amped over something as trivial as playing catch as a major league pitcher. For a guy who had to go on the 10-day injured list after a strong start to the season and then went months without picking up a baseball, the left-hander had a lot of energy and a lot to say about his ongoing rehab process.

“We're in my second week of playing catch. ... Up to 75 feet right now. And just building back up,” Doolittle said in front of his locker in the Nationals clubhouse Friday afternoon. “I can't remember the last time I took two months off from throwing. But the elbow and the forearm have been feeling really good. All of the strength work has gone really well and now is the fun part. Getting to throw and play catch again, knock that rust off. We don't have a timetable or anything. But it's been going really well.”

Doolittle landed on the 10-day IL with a left elbow sprain on April 20, the day after he recorded two outs in relief of Josiah Gray during the Nationals’ 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks in the matinee of a D.C. doubleheader. A little over two weeks later, he was moved to the 60-day IL after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection that would keep him out for a longer period of time.

He had to stop throwing for what turned out to be about two months. He wasn’t allowed to do what he’s literally paid to do.

After starting the season with 5 1/3 scoreless innings, a 0.188 WHIP and six strikeouts to no walks over six appearances, was that particularly frustrating for him?

It’s always nice to be home. After a 10-game road trip in which they went 3-7, the Nationals were happy to return to D.C. to start this long homestand tonight against the Brewers.

You could feel it in the clubhouse before the game. Despite coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins and getting into town late last night, players seemed to be in high spirits this afternoon. Even manager Davey Martinez was particularly chipper in his pregame press conference.

Did the late arrival time at Nationals Park allow them to catch up on sleep? Or were they over-caffeinated after not getting enough sleep? We don’t know for sure, but whatever it was it led to an 11-5 win over the Brewers in front of 26,111 in attendance on South Capitol Street.

“I am tired. … I got three hours of sleep," Martinez said immediately after tonight's game. "By the end of the game today, I looked at (bench coach Tim Bogar) and said, 'I'm beat.' ”

It was a picture-perfect Friday night in our nation’s capital. With a gametime temperature of 79 degrees and a per usual perfect national anthem from local favorite D.C. Washington, the Nationals settled right into a victory in which they received contributions from all aspects of the roster.

After a long 10-game road trip across three cities, the Nationals are finally home in D.C., ready to start an 11-game homestand over the next 10 days.

“Yeah, it's awesome,” manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame session in the press conference room at Nationals Park. “I mean, it was a long road trip. It really was. But glad to be home.”

Although the location has changed, the Nationals lineup for their series opener against the Brewers remains mostly the same, with Nelson Cruz starting again as the designated hitter after being a late scratch from last night’s finale in Miami with tightness in his back.

“Cruz is back in there,” Martinez said. “His back was stiff yesterday. So he called this morning, I talked to him this morning. He said he feels a lot better. ... Says he feels good. So he's back in there.”

The 41-year-old has dealt with a handful of nagging issues that have caused him to be scratched from lineups this season. He was also removed from the lineup before an April 12 game in Atlanta with groin tightness, and he was scratched from a May 16 game in Miami with an illness.

Home, sweet home! After going 3-7 over a three-city road trip, the Nationals have finally returned home to South Capitol Street. 

Tonight kicks off an 11-game homestand over the next 10 days (thanks to a doubleheader against the Phillies a week from today), starting with three games against the Brewers. The Nats will be looking for a little payback after dropping two out of three in Milwaukee last month.

Erick Fedde takes the mound for his sixth home start to open this series. He’s 3-4 with 4.88 ERA on the season and gave up two runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings against the Brewers in May.

Aaron Ashby gets the start for the Brew Crew tonight. In 12 games (six starts) this season, the young left-hander is 1-4 with a 3.13 ERA. He closed out the Brewers’ 7-0 win with a scoreless ninth inning on the same day Fedde started for the Nationals at American Family Field. As a starter, Ashby is 1-2 with a 3.45 ERA.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 78 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field 

35,000 FEET ABOVE THE EAST COAST – Good morning from the friendly skies. Following a not-so-appreciated, getaway night game in Miami, your trusty reporter is currently flying home to Washington on less than full sleep. But don't worry, I won't be napping on this 2 1/2-hour flight north. I'll be working. Working for you, dear readers.

The Nationals' just-completed, 3-7 road trip to New York, Cincinnati and Miami was filled with all kinds of twists and turns, culminating in Stephen Strasburg's season debut Thursday night. The big guy didn't finish with a strong pitching line, allowing seven runs to the Marlins in only 4 2/3 innings, but there were encouraging signs sprinkled in there. And most importantly, he emerged from the start healthy and ready to pitch again in five days.

There's plenty more going on with this team beyond Strasburg, of course. Juan Soto, Keibert Ruiz and Luis García are all part of the daily lineup in the big leagues now. Lane Thomas has turned hot at the plate again. Josiah Gray has been pitching well. Cade Cavalli and Cole Henry are dominating at Triple-A Rochester.

If you've got questions about any of those players, or anything else for that matter, now's your chance. I'm stuck on a plane with nowhere to go for a couple of hours. So submit your questions in the comments section below, then check back throughout the morning for my responses (barring any airline WiFi issues, of course) ...

MIAMI – This was never going to be Strasmas II, and anyone who went into tonight’s game believing it might hasn’t been paying close enough attention. He wasn’t going to strike out 14. He wasn’t going to approach anything close to triple digits on the radar gun. He wasn’t going to wow the baseball world with pitching dominance.

No, when Stephen Strasburg took the mound tonight for the 247th time in a career that began with such a flourish 12 years and 1 day earlier, there was only one goal in everyone’s mind: Come out of this one healthy.

In that regard, the initial read of the right-hander’s first start of 2022 was a positive one for the Nationals, even if the final outcome was a 7-4 loss to complete a three-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins.

"It felt good, and I'm excited to learn from it and get back out there for my next one," he said, adding: "All in all, it's a place to start and try to build off it."

Sure, a better result would’ve been nice. Nobody wanted to see Strasburg give up seven runs in 4 2/3 innings or hand the ball over to Davey Martinez after serving up a towering homer instead of after recording a big out. But the 33-year-old’s final line in his long-awaited return from thoracic outlet surgery was never going to be the defining point of his start.

MIAMI – Needing to clear a spot on the active roster for Stephen Strasburg in advance of his return to the mound tonight, the Nationals optioned Sam Clay to Triple-A, sending the reliever back to Rochester only one day after he was called up.

Clay wound up not appearing in a game during this brief stint after pitching in five games in April during his previous time with the major league club.

The move leaves the Nationals without a left-hander in their bullpen, unless they intend to use Evan Lee in that role again. The rookie, who made his big league debut last week in New York with a 3 2/3-inning start, tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief during Tuesday night’s loss to the Marlins.

With Joan Adon demoted to Triple-A following a ragged outing Tuesday, the Nats will need a fifth starter Sunday against the Brewers. Lee appears to be the most likely candidate for that assignment, unless he’s needed in relief before then.

“We’ll see how the game goes,” manager Davey Martinez said. “If we need him today, he’s readily available. If we don’t and we can stay away from him, then we can do something else come that day we need a starter. But he’s here, we ask him every day how he’s doing, he says he feels great. … Today he’s going to go throw, we’ll see how he feels. If he’s available and we need him, he’ll pitch today. If we can stay away from him, then he’ll possibly start in the next few days.”

MIAMI – There’s going to be a right-hander wearing No. 37 on the mound for the Nationals tonight, as you may have heard. It’s the first time Stephen Strasburg will be pitching in that uniform since June 1, 2021, when he departed a start in Atlanta in the second inning with neck and shoulder discomfort, eventually to learn he needed thoracic outlet surgery.

All this time later, Strasburg is back. He has made it through the long rehab process, tossing six scoreless innings on 83 pitches last week in Rochester. Now we find out how he fares against a major league lineup.

Davey Martinez insists there are no restrictions on Strasburg tonight, but let’s be honest: The Nationals are going to be careful. They’ll monitor him inning-by-inning, but you’d think they’ll hold him to 90 pitches at most, maybe less, depending on how he looks and feels.

Strasburg will have very few familiar faces around him on the field, the Nats roster having been completely overhauled since the last time he pitched. That group of newcomers will be hoping to do everything they can to help him get through this start with minimal damage.

To make room for Strasburg on the active roster, the Nationals optioned Sam Clay to Triple-A Rochester.

MIAMI – Of all the factors that contributed to last summer’s trade deadline sell-off by the Nationals and initiation of an organizational rebuild, it’s not unfair to suggest that Stephen Strasburg’s latest injury ranked at the top of the list.

By the time the final week of July came around, the Nats knew they weren’t going to win anything in 2021. Once they learned Strasburg needed thoracic outlet surgery, they knew they probably weren’t going to win anything in 2022, either.

So when Strasburg makes his return to the mound tonight here in Miami, he’ll return to a situation that bears almost no resemblance to the one he found himself in the last time he pitched in a major league game.

The Nationals lineup June 1, 2021 in Atlanta included Trea Turner, Ryan Zimmerman, Kyle Schwarber, Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison and Starlin Castro. Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand pitched in relief. None will be here tonight when Strasburg faces the Marlins.

Nobody arguably has had more direct impact on the Nats’ fortunes over the last dozen years than Strasburg, whose availability to pitch has almost always been the difference between winning and losing. In five of the six seasons he made 24 or more starts, the team reached the postseason (all but 2013). In each of the six seasons he made fewer than 24 starts, the team failed to make it to October. And that number will grow to seven this year.

MIAMI – Back and forth they went all night, the Nationals and Marlins, each team stepping to the plate for its respective offensive half-inning, each team returning to the dugout having failed to score.

The Nats couldn’t touch Sandy Alcantara, who quietly might be the best pitcher in baseball in 2022. The Marlins couldn’t convert against Josiah Gray, then Steve Cishek, then Carl Edwards Jr., then Kyle Finnegan.

And so the two teams proceeded to take this scoreless game into extra innings, just waiting for someone to finally break through and emerge victorious.

That someone was the Nationals, who broke through with a run in the top of the 10th, thanks to Keibert Ruiz's RBI single, to take the lead. Only to give it - and the game - right back to the Marlins in the bottom of the inning.

Willians Astudillo's bloop single down the right field line scored automatic runner Jazz Chisholm Jr. from second, though only after a controversial replay review determined Ruiz blocked his path to the plate. Jesús Aguilar's ground ball up the middle then deflected off second base and into center field, allowing Astudillo to scamper home with the run that dealt the Nats an agonizing 2-1 loss.

MIAMI – The Nationals gave Joan Adon two months to experience life pitching every fifth day in the big leagues, letting the rookie right-hander take his lumps while trying to emphasize the positives despite his unsightly overall numbers. By the time he was roughed up by the Marlins on Tuesday night, they decided a move was needed.

Adon was optioned to Triple-A Rochester today, a transaction that felt increasingly likely in recent weeks and came to a head during Tuesday’s 12-2 blowout loss. The Nats for now used the roster opening that demotion created to recall reliever Sam Clay from Rochester, though they already know they’ll need to make another move before Thursday’s series finale, in which Stephen Strasburg will come off the 60-day injured list to make his long-awaited season debut.

Adon heads back to the minors after going 1-10 with a major-league-worst 6.95 ERA in 12 starts, capped off by Tuesday’s outing, in which he allowed eight runs before recording an out in the fourth inning.

“At this point, we want him to understand and work on some things without the pressure of going out there every five days and competing up here,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We want him to go down and work on some things. We had a great conversation yesterday, all positive. This kid’s going to come back here. He’s going to help us win games. His stuff is electric. He’s just got to learn how to use it effectively.”

The Nationals knew the risk they were taking putting Adon in their opening day rotation. The 23-year-old made only three starts at Double-A and one at Triple-A before getting the call to make his major league debut in the final game of the 2021 season.

MIAMI – The Nationals need to do a lot of things better tonight than they did Tuesday during a 12-2 shellacking at the hands of the Marlins, lest they once again leave themselves in position to be swept the following night.

It begins, of course, with pitching. After Joan Adon was roughed up for eight runs in three-plus innings, forcing Davey Martinez to turn to his bullpen early, the spotlight is on Josiah Gray to turn in a quality start. Fortunately for the Nats, Gray did just that his last time out, holding the Reds to one earned run while striking out nine over six innings. And he did just that the last time he faced the Marlins, as well, allowing three runs while striking out seven over six innings May 18 in this very park.

The Nationals also need to hit, which they barely did during the series opener. And they’re going to have to find a way to do that against Miami’s ace, Sandy Alcantara, who enters with a 1.81 ERA, second-best in the National League behind San Diego’s Joe Musgrove. This is the third time Alcantara has faced the Nats this season, and he was dynamite in each of his previous two starts, allowing a total of two runs in 14 innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
LF Lane Thomas
RF Juan Soto
DH Nelson Cruz
1B Josh Bell
SS Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Ehire Adrianza
CF Victor Robles

MIAMI – As he walked through the Nationals’ clubhouse Tuesday afternoon, Ehire Adrianza found faces both familiar and unfamiliar. Many of those who came over to say hello were with the veteran utilityman all spring in West Palm Beach, expecting to open the season with him on the roster. Some barely registered during big league camp, only joining the major league club once the regular season began.

It’s been more than two months since Adrianza suffered a left quadriceps strain during the final week of spring training, forcing him first to the 10-day injured list and eventually to the 60-day IL. Now, at last, he’s healthy and on the active roster, finally making his Nats debut during Tuesday night’s loss to the Marlins.

“For me, it’s like opening day right now,” he said. “I’m getting to know the guys a little bit more, and get used to the team. I’m ready to go.”

When he pulled up lame running out a groundball March 31 in Port St. Lucie, Adrianza knew his chances of making the Nationals’ opening day roster had just taken a severe blow. He did not, however, know he wouldn’t be making his season debut until the team’s 57th game.

Turns out the injury required a lengthy period of inactivity, then a slow process of building himself back up, jogging on a gravity-reducing treadmill, then on the field, then finally performing baseball activities before he was ready to play in games. The entire process took more than two months.

MIAMI – Thursday’s return of Stephen Strasburg to the Nationals’ active roster, and the expected debut of top prospects Cade Cavalli (and perhaps Cole Henry) later this summer, serve as legitimately encouraging developments during an otherwise miserable season to date. Those pitchers’ arrivals will be celebrated by the organization and fans alike who desperately want reason to be hopeful about the future.

There is a flip side to the story, though. For every player added to the roster, somebody must be dropped. A group of starters has been given the opportunity to pitch every fifth day through the season’s first two months and make the case to remain here on a permanent basis.

Now those starters can’t help but look over their shoulders and wonder if their time is about to be up.

“I don’t want them to put that kind of pressure on themselves,” manager Davey Martinez said prior to tonight’s series opener against the Marlins. “I just want them to go out there and compete. They’re here for a reason. We felt like they could help us win games. I want them to continue to do that.”

Whether Joan Adon had any of this on his mind, either when he took the mound tonight or when he departed it after surrendering eight runs during what wound up a 12-2 debacle of a loss, is known only by him. The 23-year-old rookie, though, is smart enough to know what’s going on around him. And if he doesn’t, he might just find out the hard way soon.

MIAMI – For the first time in more than a year, Stephen Strasburg is going to pitch for the Nationals.

The veteran right-hander and 2019 World Series MVP will make his long-awaited 2022 debut Thursday night against the Marlins, having finally completed his recovery and rehab from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery, manager Davey Martinez announced prior to tonight’s series opener.

“He’s excited. I know we’re excited to have him back,” Martinez said. “So he’ll be on the mound Thursday.”

Strasburg’s return had come into clearer focus over the last two weeks as he successfully completed three minor league rehab starts. When he tossed six scoreless innings for Triple-A Rochester on Friday, it seemed like a final step for the 33-year-old.

The only remaining hurdle was a bullpen session Monday here in Miami. Once he made it through that standard, between-starts throwing exercise with no issues, he was declared good to go.

MIAMI – Hello from what used to be called Marlins Park and what used to house the Home Run Thingamabob. Neither is true anymore, which is quite a pity. The Nationals make their second trip here to South Florida in three weeks, hoping for a series win this time after dropping two of three to the Marlins last month.

The Nats enter this series with some positive momentum after taking three straight from the Reds over the weekend. A victory tonight would give them their first four-game winning streak of the season, which would certainly be a welcome development.

It’s Joan Adon on the mound for the opener. The rookie faced the Marlins here last month and had success, allowing only one run over 4 2/3 innings, albeit with a hefty pitch count of 84 in what wound up a 5-1 loss. The kid has been better, allowing three or fewer runs in five of his last six starts and reaching the sixth inning in each of his last two outings. He’s still seeking his first win since April 19, though. It’s been a while.

Rookie Edward Cabrera starts for Miami, having tossed six innings of one-hit ball against the Rockies in his season debut last week. The right-hander made his major league debut against the Nats last season, allowing three runs over 6 1/3 innings.

Some transactions to share: Utility man Ehire Adrianza, finally eligible to come off the 60-day injured list after straining his quadriceps in late March, has been activated. Fellow utility man Dee Strange-Gordon has returned from paternity leave. They’ll take the roster spots of reliever Victor Arano, who has been placed on the 15-day IL with left knee inflammation, and infielder Lucius Fox, who was optioned back to Triple-A Rochester after spending a couple days on the roster in Cincinnati without appearing in a game.

Stephen Strasburg Gray Jersey

The Nationals’ 2022 season began exactly two months ago, and it began with an uninspired loss to a Mets club that has proceeded to win eight of the 10 head-to-head matchups between the two division foes so far.

Along the way, there hasn’t been much reason to get excited about these Nationals. Even after winning three of four over the weekend against an equally struggling Reds team, they own a 21-35 record. At this pace, they would finish 61-101.

But for many, the losses haven’t even been the most frustrating part of the season to date. Many could stomach the losses if they were the product of a young roster learning and growing on the job together. But that’s not what this roster has looked like the last two months.

Though there are a handful of young players who could and should be part of the organization’s long-term plan, most of the guys in uniform have been veteran placeholders. Guys who are only going to be here until the real future of the franchise arrives, whether internally from the minor leagues or externally from other organizations or upcoming drafts and international signing periods.

Slowly but surely, though, that’s going to change. For the first time this season, we are beginning to see potential long-term pieces to the puzzle supplant short-term fillers. With the promise of more to come this summer.

CINCINNATI – Wherever the Nationals go, the attention always focuses on their big-name players. Your Juan Sotos, Josh Bells, Nelson Cruzes, Josiah Grays, Patrick Corbins, etc.

While all of those stars contributed to the Nats’ three wins over the Reds this weekend, some unsung heroes played a significant role as well.

Not all of them got their fair share of praise over the last three days, partially my own fault for not incorporating them more. So let’s take some time to give them their time in the spotlight.

Lane Thomas is an obvious one, though he did get his fair share after hitting three home runs on Friday night. Those jump off the page, obviously, but he did a lot more this weekend.

Thomas went 7-for-14 with three home runs, a double, four RBIs, a walk and five runs scored in the three games he played in Cincinnati, once again showing his uncanny ability to produce in National League Central ballparks. All along the way, he played perfect defense in the outfield, including a nice sliding catch Saturday afternoon.

CINCINNATI – It’s been over a month since the Nationals completed a road series win. They took two out of three in San Francisco on April 28-May 1. They have lost five straight since.

That streak ended today as the Nationals beat the Reds 5-4 in front of 16,380 at Great American Ball Park to win their third straight game and therefore this four-game series.

The first inning had a lot of action this Sunday afternoon. Facing right-hander Luis Castillo, who doesn’t have great career numbers against the Nats, the guys in navy blue were able to jump out to an early lead, something they haven’t done in about a week.

César Hernández walked and Lane Thomas singled to start the game, and Josh Bell drove in both with an RBI double to right field, putting the Nats on the board first for the first time since Monday in New York.

But Patrick Corbin ran into trouble of his own in the bottom of the inning. The Reds’ game plan against the southpaw was clear: Attack the fastball and run on the basepaths.

CINCINNATI – It’s a lovely Sunday in The Queen City as the Nationals look to win this four-game series against the hosting Reds.

With the early game today, a flight to catch tonight and an off-day tomorrow before a series against the Marlins in Miami gets underway Tuesday night, there wasn’t a whole lot of news coming out of the Nats clubhouse this morning. So let’s go through some notes before we get underway one last time in Cincinnati …

* Here’s your daily non-update Stephen Strasburg update: He did some work in the visitors' bullpen at Great American Ball Park this morning as part of his routine while recovering from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery and Friday’s rehab start with Triple-A Rochester, in which he pitched six shutout innings on 83 pitches. Pitching coach Jim Hickey and others were working with Strasburg.

Although things seem to be going well for the veteran right-hander and his season debut should be coming soon, manager Davey Martinez isn’t ready to commit to anything until Strasburg goes through his bullpen session tomorrow with the team in Miami.

“He's had a routine that he does in between starts, so he's just doing his routine,” Martinez said of Strasburg’s work this morning during his pregame media session. “And he's gonna throw a bullpen here in the next day. We'll see where he's at and we'll have a conversation after the bullpen. But so far, everything looks good. I don't want to make any decisions yet 'til he throws his bullpen and we go from there.”