Williams to start Friday at Cubs as Nats shift to six-man rotation

NEW YORK – Trevor Williams is set to return from the injured list and start Friday in Chicago, which sets up the Nationals to finish out the season with a six-man rotation.

Williams has cleared all hurdles in his rehab from a flexor strain in his elbow and will be activated off the 60-day IL this weekend, making his return to the mound Friday afternoon against the Cubs.

“He says he feels good,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He’ll get a chance to start, and we’ll get a chance to push these guys back a little bit.”

Williams hasn’t pitched since May 30, after which he reported elbow pain and the flexor strain was diagnosed. It took 3 1/2 months, but the right-hander made it through the entire rehab process in time to pitch again, even if he’ll only make two big league starts before season’s end.

Given how well he pitched prior to the injury – 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP in 11 starts – Williams earned the opportunity to come back and make these final starts, even if he doesn’t figure into the Nationals’ long-term plans. A pending free agent, the 32-year-old will get the chance to prove he’s healthy heading into the offseason.

“One, it’s his free agent year,” Martinez said when asked what Williams and the Nats will get from his return. “Two, he gets back on a major league mound and gets to compete after working his way back. Plus, he was so good the first couple months. We missed him. He was that veteran guy that was giving us innings, pitching well.

“Unfortunately he got hurt, but he worked his way to come back. And hopefully he (picks up) right where he left off and he has a good winter. The big thing was to get him healthy before the end of the season and try to get him to start a game. And he worked himself to do that.”

There’s another reason the Nationals are bringing Williams back at this late stage of the season: His return allows them to move to a six-man rotation down the stretch and thus give their young starters some extra rest while still finishing the year without being shut down.

MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz all have exceeded their previous single-season highs in innings pitched. All have remained healthy the entire year, and club officials have wanted to let them continue to pitch through the finish line without shutting them down.

The six-man rotation will allow everyone to get a full week of rest before making one final start next week at home, with Irvin currently lined up to pitch the Sept. 28 season finale against the Phillies.

“That’s what the plan is right now,” Martinez said of the six-man rotation. “We’ll see how today goes. But I’d like to bump these guys back a couple days.”

* Luis García Jr. is not in tonight’s lineup, his right wrist still sore after he had to come out of Tuesday night’s game.

García has been bothered by the wrist issue a couple of times this season, and he said he especially felt it after taking a swing during his third-inning strikeout Tuesday, which proved to be his final at-bat of the game.

“He’s had it earlier this year, and it kind of went away,” Martinez said. “And then he started feeling it a little bit again over the past week. He took one swing yesterday and said he felt it, so we got him out of there.”

García hasn’t been regularly starting games against left-handers anyway, but Martinez did say he intended to have him at second base tonight against Mets lefty Jose Quintana, who is a better matchup for García because of his propensity to throw high fastballs.

Instead, José Tena will slide over to second base tonight, with Ildemaro Vargas at third base. García could be available to pinch-hit if his wrist feels OK after taking some practice swings during the game.