Why Lee will start today, and what it says about Strasburg

NEW YORK – The Nationals couldn’t really afford to be picky when it came time to choose their starter for today’s series finale against the Mets. They had to take whomever was most available for this game.

They hoped that would be Josh Rogers or Paolo Espino, but both were needed out of the bullpen after Erick Fedde lasted just 1 1/3 innings during Monday night’s series opener. So that knocked each of them out of the equation.

In a perfect world, Stephen Strasburg would’ve been ready by now, but he’s not quite there yet. The news has been very encouraging on Strasburg, who tossed five hitless innings in a rehab start Sunday for Single-A Fredericksburg, but he needs at least one more tune-up Friday at Triple-A Rochester to build his innings and pitch counts up before coming off the injured list at last.

Cade Cavalli and Cole Henry each was dominant in his last start, Cavalli tossing seven scoreless innings for Rochester, Henry pitching four perfect innings for Double-A Harrisburg. But neither top prospect is deemed ready quite yet. And besides, neither was on the right schedule after starting Sunday.

So that left two remaining options from the Nationals’ farm system who were both on the right five-day scheduled: Jackson Tetreault and Evan Lee.

Tetreault, who turns 26 this week, has more experience. He’s made 10 starts at Triple-A so far this season, with a 3.35 ERA and 1.241 WHIP. But the right-hander, a seventh round pick in the 2017 draft, isn’t necessarily regarded as a highly touted prospect. And he’s not on the 40-man roster.

Lee, meanwhile, has less experience, with seven Double-A starts so far this season, having compiled a 3.60 ERA and 1.333 WHIP. But unlike Tetreault, the 24-year-old lefty does appear on the organization prospects list, and he was added to the 40-man roster over the winter to protect him from being lost in the Rule 5 draft.

So the Nats are going with Lee, even if manager Davey Martinez doesn’t intend to ask for more than three or four innings out of him against a very good Mets lineup that has torched just about everyone else on the pitching staff so far in this series.

What’s telling about this plan is that the Nationals, by all indications, expect this be a one-time spot start. Maybe Lee pitches well enough to earn the opportunity to stick around, but that doesn’t appear to be the organization’s intention going into the game.

That’s because everyone is under the impression Strasburg is on the cusp of returning from the IL. Friday’s rehab start will be the final decider, but if the 33-year-old can get through six innings or 80-85 pitches feeling healthy and feeling like he has command of his pitches, the club won’t hesitate to activate him in time to make his next start for the big league team.

That could come June 8 against the Marlins in Miami, coincidentally the 12th anniversary of Strasburg’s memorable major league debut.

First things first, though: The Nats need Lee to give them a chance this afternoon at Citi Field. Once he does or doesn’t do that, they can shift their attention to the more star-studded pitcher on the verge of joining their rotation.