Lester to debut Thursday, Strasburg still testing calf

Jon Lester is ready to make his Nationals debut. And that could help give Stephen Strasburg a couple extra days to let his strained calf heal without disrupting the team's rotation plans to begin the season.

Lester has cleared all hurdles since rejoining camp following March 5 surgery to remove one of his parathyroid glands and is slated to start Thursday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla., according to manager Davey Martinez.

It'll be the left-hander's long-awaited Nationals debut after his early-spring health delay, but he appears to still have time to build his arm up and make his first start of the regular season on time. He's scheduled to throw at least two innings, possibly returning for the third if his pitch count is manageable.

"He threw, like, a (simulated) game the other day, he got up to about 40 pitches," Martinez said during his afternoon Zoom session with reporters. "But like I said, it was kind of a controlled environment. So we'll see. He says he feels real good. We definitely want to get him two innings. I figure, stretch him to get him into that third inning. We'll see if we can do that."

Lester would then be able to make at least one more Grapefruit League start (March 23 or 24) before camp ends. He would need to pitch again before his season debut, and that outing could either come in the March 29 Grapefruit League finale or the following day in some type of simulated game.

Because the Nationals are off Wednesday and Lester is now sliding into the rotation the following afternoon, they can afford to give Strasburg's left calf a little extra time to recover before deciding if he's ready to pitch again.

Strasburg, who hurt himself in the third inning of Sunday's start, was due to play catch on flat ground today and test the calf.

"Came in today, said he felt OK," Martinez said. "So he's going to throw a little bit, and we'll re-evaluate after."

If Strasburg comes out of that session fine, he could then throw a standard between-starts bullpen session on Thursday or Friday, then return to start Sunday against the Mets. That course of action would allow the right-hander to remain in the No. 2 position in the Nationals rotation (between Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin) and still be on schedule to start the season's second game (April 3).

If Strasburg can't pitch by Sunday, the team would likely need to make adjustments to its rotation plan.

Tanner Rainey, meanwhile, appears close to ready to make his long-awaited 2021 debut after dealing with a muscle strain near his right collarbone. The reliever will throw a simulated game Thursday, which could be the final step before he's cleared to return. That should still give him enough time to get ready to open the season in the bullpen.

"If (the simulated game) goes well, hopefully we'll get him in a game a few days after that," Martinez said.