Focus returns to field as Nationals open long road trip

PHOENIX - They've got three new arms in their bullpen. Their rotation is still missing its ace. Their lineup is close to full-strength again. Now the Nationals' focus returns to the field, where it will stay for the next two months. And perhaps beyond.

After a furious final few hours before Wednesday's trade deadline, not to mention a frustrating 10-inning loss to the Braves as this was all playing out, the Nationals flew west and enjoyed a much-needed day off in the desert.

They pick up where they left off tonight, facing the Diamondbacks in the opener of a nine-game road trip that also includes stops in San Francisco and New York. And the pressure's on to return to their winning ways.

The just-completed homestand was hardly a bust, but a 5-5 record and series losses to both the Dodgers and Braves didn't help the Nationals get any closer to their ultimate goal. They're now seven games behind Atlanta in the National League East (six in the loss column). They're now tied with the Phillies for second place in the division, and are now in a three-way tie with the Cubs for the NL's two wild card berths.

Suffice it to say, there's work to be done. And there are fewer opportunities for slip-ups remaining on the schedule.

The Nationals have now completed two-thirds of their season. They went 22-32 over their first 54 games, a .407 winning percentage. Then they went 35-19 over their next 54 games, good for a .648 winning percentage.

What do they need to do over their final 54 games? Well, a 33-21 final stretch (a .611 winning percentage) would get them to 90-72 overall and most likely a spot in the winner-take-all wild card game. Anything less than that and they're probably putting their fate in someone else's hands.

So a successful road trip over the next week and a half would be a nice way to get this home stretch off on the right foot. The Nationals, though, face plenty of questions as they prepare to re-take the field.

Tonight's series opener at Chase Field features an unfavorable pitching matchup: Joe Ross vs. Robbie Ray. Ray, the onetime Nats prospect who was dealt to Detroit for Doug Fister and wound up becoming an All-Star in Arizona, was rumored to be on the trading block this week. Instead, the Diamondbacks decided to keep the hard-throwing lefty and shipped ace Zack Greinke to the Astros in the day's most shocking twist.

Plain and simple, the Nationals need Ross to be a whole lot better than he's been to date in 2019. Davey Martinez wants him to focus more on his two-seam fastball than his four-seamer, and the club is working with the struggling righty to ditch his once-electric slider in favor of more curveballs and changeups. Whether he can successfully incorporate those kinds of changes in-season remains to be seen, but something's got to change.

The Nationals do have two of their best starters on the mound the rest of the weekend, with Stephen Strasburg seeking his eighth consecutive win on Saturday night and Patrick Corbin making his return to Chase Field as a visitor Sunday afternoon.

Martinez is expected to have all three of his new bullpen arms - righties Daniel Hudson and Hunter Strickland, lefty Roenis Elías - available for tonight's game. The second-year manager is going to have to figure out how each of them slot into the relief corps. Before that, the Nationals need to decide which final player will be removed from the 25-man roster in addition to Javy Guerra and Michael Blazek, who were both designated for assignment following Wednesday's game.

All of this, of course, is secondary to the most pressing question facing the Nats right now: When will Max Scherzer return from the injured list?

Scherzer, as of late Wednesday, had still not attempted to throw since going on the IL with a mild rhomboid strain near his right shoulder blade. He's eligible to rejoin the roster as soon as Tuesday in San Francisco. In order to pull that off, he's going to have to start throwing awfully soon and test his arm out off the bullpen mound before the end of the weekend.