Adon to start Thursday, Soto returns to lineup

PHILADELPHIA – Joan Adon will start Thursday’s series finale for the Nationals, rejoining the big league roster to take the rotation spot that recently became vacant with Jackson Tetreault’s injury.

Needing someone to pitch against the Phillies after Tetreault landed on the 15-day injured list with a stress fracture of his right scapula, the Nats opted to go with Adon, who returns after making only one start during his most recent stint at Triple-A Rochester.

The Nationals sent the 23-year-old down after 13 starts to begin the season in the big league rotation, wanting him to work on developing his changeup and improving fastball command. But only one outing later, he was back in D.C. to face the Phillies in one of their June 17 doubleheader games, allowing four runs and seven hits in five innings.

“He was throwing the ball well,” manager Davey Martinez said. “And as you guys remember, came up here and threw the ball well. So we’ll give him an opportunity to start tomorrow.”

The club sent Adon back to Rochester after that start, and he performed well in a June 22 outing against Syracuse, allowing one unearned run with zero walks in five innings. But then came a planned break, which has extended until now.

“We wanted to give him a little bit of a break,” Martinez said. “We do that a lot with some of our younger guys in the minor leagues. So he’s fresh, he’s good to go. I know he’s still been throwing bullpens, so he’s good to go. I’m looking forward to him pounding the strike zone tomorrow and keeping us in the ballgame.”

Tetreault’s injury, which came after the first four starts of his major league career, left the Nationals without a No. 5 starter again, and their options for filling that spot were thin.

Aníbal Sánchez and Josh Rogers continue to work their way back from injuries and remain on minor league rehab assignments. Sánchez has made two starts for Rochester, most recently Sunday. Rogers made one start for Rochester last week and tonight is starting for Double-A Harrisburg, looking to build up his pitch count.

The Nationals also considered right-hander Cory Abbott, who was briefly in the big league bullpen last month and has been working as a starter at Triple-A. Top prospect Cade Cavalli is starting for Rochester tonight, with club officials continuing to insist the 2020 first-round pick needs to prove he can have more consistent success before making his big league debut.

Whether Adon remains with the Nats beyond this start will be determined later.

“As I told him today: Just focus on the here and now,” Martinez said. “You’re getting an opportunity tomorrow to pitch again here. Let’s just focus on getting outs, right from the first inning on. Just go out there and have fun. The biggest thing is he understands how we feel about him. He’s going to be here. We want him to be here for a long time. But he’s still learning a bunch of different things. And every time we’ve seen him, he’s gotten a little better. So we just want him to be consistent.”

* Juan Soto is back in the lineup tonight, but Nelson Cruz remains out.

It’s Soto’s first start since Sunday, when he came out of the game after four innings with tightness in his left calf muscle. He returned to pinch-hit Monday, drawing a four-pitch walk, but then gave way to pinch-runner Alcides Escobar. He didn’t appear in Tuesday’s blowout loss.

Soto will be restricted to designated hitter duties tonight, but the Nationals are optimistic he’ll be ready to return to right field Thursday.

They do want him to be careful, though, especially when running the bases, to avoid compounding the initial injury.

“We’ll definitely monitor him throughout the game,” Martinez said. “But I told him: Just be smart. He went out there, and he ran well. I talked to the trainers, and they said he looked good. He ran a couple of little turns in the outfield and he felt fine. The stop-and-go, for me right now, is probably going to be a little bit of an issue. But I told him to run through the base and just take it easy.”

Cruz, meanwhile, is out of the lineup for the second straight night with what Martinez termed a “stomach virus.” Cruz was a late scratch Tuesday night, the news coming in only minutes before game time.

“He’s a little bit under the weather,” Martinez said. “So we’ll monitor him, and hopefully throughout the day, he’ll feel better.”