Could Parra be in Nationals' plans again soon?

Two years ago today, a slumping Gerardo Parra stepped to the plate for his first at-bat of a doubleheader against the Phillies, and for the first time did so with "Baby Shark" blaring over the Nationals Park sound system. Most in the crowd laughed at the odd choice for a walk-up song, but little did they realize what kind of impact it would have on Parra individually and on the Nats as a whole.

Just as they did on June 19, 2019, the Nationals are playing a doubleheader today, this time against the Mets. Unlike that infamous day, Parra isn't on the premises. But that may change in the near future.

The Nationals are currently playing without a true backup outfielder after Andrew Stevenson went on the 10-day injured list Friday with an oblique strain. Yadiel Hernandez, who has spent most of the season in the big leagues but was optioned to Triple-A Rochester one week ago, isn't eligible to return yet.

And that confluence of events could lead to Parra's promotion to Washington soon, manager Davey Martinez hinted this morning.

"We'll see what happens here in the next few days or so," Martinez said coyly during his pregame Zoom session with reporters.

Parra, who rejoined the organization on a minor league contract prior to spring training, has been playing at Rochester, slowly getting himself back into shape. He had knee surgery after completing the 2020 season in Japan, and was restricted in his outfield play for a while, but he's recently begun playing center field again.

The 34-year-old also has begun to see his number tick up at the plate. Though he's batting a mere .222 overall, Parra has compiled a .385 on-base percentage and earlier this week hit a walk-off grand slam.

Parra's name hadn't come up much the last two months because the Nationals already had two backup, left-handed outfielders in Stevenson and Hernandez. But with Stevenson now on the IL and Hernandez trying to get his swing back together after only seeing action as a pinch-hitter for weeks, there appears to be reason to think Parra has climbed to the top of the depth chart when the club is ready to add another outfielder.

Asked today about Hernandez's progress at Rochester, Martinez mentioned the veteran took the full 72 hours he's permitted off after getting optioned to Triple-A last week. Hernandez has since played in four games, going 2-for-15 with one double and one RBI.

"He just started playing again," Martinez said. "He's starting to work on his swing again. The biggest thing is to get him in the outfield. He hasn't played the outfield in quite a while. So we want to get him back out there, both in left and right field."

The manager then unprompted mentioned Parra.

"And also, Parra's swinging the bat really well," he said. "I know he hit a grand slam to win the game the other day. He's been playing some center field. He's moving around really, really well. So we do have options, but right now we feel like we're in a good spot."

For now, the Nationals' backup outfielder is Josh Harrison, typically their starting second baseman. That won't be a long-term solution.