Injury updates on Gallo, Thomas, Gray and Cavalli

BOSTON – As the Nationals got settled into the cramped visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park, Joey Gallo learned that his next rehab game with Triple-A Rochester was postponed due to inclement weather about four hours south in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Davey Martinez was hoping his first baseman/designated hitter, who has been on the injured list since April 26 with a left shoulder AC sprain, would carry over his strong night at the plate last night into tonight with the Red Wings.

“Joey Gallo is rehabbing in Rochester still,” Martinez said ahead of tonight’s opener against the Red Sox. “Today got rained out, so they got no game today.”

Gallo went 2-for-5 with a double and three-run home run in the Red Wings’ 14-12 loss to the RailRiders last night. It was his first multi-hit game and extra-base hits over his five rehab games, a good sign the 30-year-old is getting his timing back after hitting .122 with a .597 OPS and three home runs in his first 23 games with the Nats.

“He hit a home run and a double. He's starting to swing the bat a little bit better,” Martinez said. “They said he feels good. Just like everybody else, he's just trying to get his timing back. Hopefully, he continues to play. The rainouts are not good, but I want him to get as many at-bats as he possibly can before we bring him back up here. But we also want to make sure that this doesn't linger and that it goes away. But he said he feels good.”

Lane Thomas, working his way back from a left MCL sprain that put him on the IL on April 24, took batting practice on the field again after doing so for the first time in his rehab Tuesday at Nats Park. He’s continued to run and throw as well, so the next step for the 28-year-old outfielder is running the bases.

“Lane's hitting in the cage. He's gonna take BP on the field again. He's throwing and running. He's feeling pretty good,” Martinez said. “So the next thing for Lane is to continue the running process and progress. Hopefully, before this week ends, we get him on the bases a little bit, kind of start making turns. But he's doing well. So that's good news.”

As for rehabbing pitchers, Josiah Gray and Cade Cavalli threw off mounds again in different capacities.

Gray threw another bullpen session this afternoon at Fenway. On Tuesday, he threw 30 fastballs at Nats Park. Today he ramped up to 35 pitches, still all fastballs.

“Josiah threw 35 fastballs today, probably about 30-32 strikes, which is awesome,” Martinez said. “He’s doing well.”

The right-hander has been on the injured list since April 9, retroactive to April 6, with a right elbow/forearm flexor strain. It’s likely that injury played a role in his rough start to the season, giving up 13 runs and 15 hits in 8 ⅓ innings over his first two starts.

Meanwhile, Cavalli threw a live bullpen session yesterday at the team’s facility in West Palm Beach. The right-hander recovering from Tommy John surgery threw 45 pitches in 2 ⅔ innings, his longest such outing to date in his rehab.

“Cade Cavalli threw a live BP yesterday,” Martinez said. “He threw the ball well again. So he's getting better. He's well on his way, so that's fun.”

The Nationals are sticking to their timeline of Cavalli returning sometime in late June or July and have the rest of rehab mapped out, while seeing how he feels in between sessions.

“It's a feeling and it's progression,” Martinez said. “Like I said, with Tommy John, you basically know what the timeline is. So we're gonna stick as close as we can to that timeline. We work backwards from when he should be done to get him to this point.”