Which Stephen Strasburg will return to the mound tonight? (game started)

The Washington Nationals welcome a healthy Stephen Strasburg back to the mound tonight in the series opener against the Atlanta Braves. It's Strasburg's first start in the majors since May 29 when he lasted only 16 pitches after experiencing neck tightness following the first inning. The next day Strasburg landed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left trapezius muscle, but the 26-year-old said later that those muscle spasms subsided rather quickly and he was able to resume throwing shortly after.

"Being able to get Stras back is a big push for our staff," Bryce Harper said. "He's one of our horses. He's one of the best guys out there and he's gonna bring that fire and emotion tonight, hopefully, and do the things he needs to do to keep us in this ballgame. Hopefully we can get some runs up there on the board for him and get him (the) W tonight."

Prior to his DL stint, Strasburg experienced a few nagging injuries - a sprained left ankle on March 20 and back alignment issue prior to his May 5 start - which interfered with his performance. The results weren't good as Strasburg's ERA skyrocketed to 6.55 ERA with a 3-5 record in 10 starts.

Nationals manager Matt Williams is eager to see what his tall right-hander brings to the hill tonight. He indicated that it's important for Strasburg to establish his fastball down in the strike zone and then aggressively climb the ladder with the heater when he gets into two-strike counts.

"I think it's big for him health-wise," Williams said. "Anytime you step on the mound or to the plate or play defense and you're not 100 percent, you don't feel good, something wrong, it's never any fun. You end up thinking about that as opposed to executing whatever you're trying to do. So tonight it's important that one, that he feels good when he walks out there and he can let it go and let it fly and there aren't any restrictions, first and foremost.

"Secondarily, it's important for him to be able to throw it where he wants to. And if he can do that, then he's got a really good chance of beating any team. On the other hand, if he doesn't, then he can get hit. So one, he feels good. Two, he's able to throw it where he wants to with conviction. That's what I'd like to see tonight, regardless of the result. We'd like to win the ballgame of course, but for his long-term health and his long-term peace of mind and for us going forward, it's just important for him to be free and go compete tonight."

Williams said Strasburg should be good to throw 95 to 100 pitches tonight. Weather could interrupt Strasburg's return as heavy thunderstorms our expected to reach the nation's capital around first pitch.

"I'll say it again: We can't do much about Mama Nature, so we deal with it," Williams said. "If it rains, it rains. But at 7:05, given that we're starting the game on time, he'll be ready. And he'll go as long as he can go, and that's all we can think about at this point. We're not going to start moving starters around because it may rain. He'll go compete and he's ready to do that."

The Braves come into D.C. at .500, two games behind the Nats in the National League East after sweeping the Mets this past weekend. Strasburg hasn't fared well against Atlanta with a 4-7 record and 4.24 ERA in 17 starts in his career. The 11 homers the Braves have hit against Strasburg are the most he's surrendered against any opponent.

Strasburg won't have to deal with Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman, who landed on the 15-day DL earlier this afternoon with a right wrist contusion. Freeman, a noted Nats killer, is 13-for-25 (.520) in six games against Washington this year.

"I'm pretty good friends with Freddie, but we're pretty lucky to not have him in the lineup tonight," Harper said. "He plays very well against us. Hopefully he gets healthy, but we're pretty fortunate not to have to play against him this week."

Update: The start of tonight's game has been delayed due to approaching weather.

Update II: Tonight's game started at 9:17 p.m.