Notes on Strasburg's bullpen, tonight's game and more

If you've been anxiously waiting for news on when Stephen Strasburg will make his next start, you're unfortunately going to have to wait at least another day.

Having been peppered with questions about the right-hander's status over the last couple of days, Nationals manager Davey Martinez isn't ready to say whether or not his recovering starter will be ready to be activated and make a start this weekend against the Orioles, even after Strasburg threw an "extended" bullpen session today following Sunday's 75-pitch rehab start with Triple-A Rochester.

"He threw the ball really well, very well," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "Very pleased, so we'll re-evaluate him tomorrow and see how he feels, and then we'll go from there."

Sounds encouraging, yet still unclear, whether or not Strasburg is any closer to returning to the active roster. Although a good bullpen session after a start can't be anything but a good sign for the veteran, who has been on the 10-day injured list since April 18 (retroactive to April 15) with right shoulder inflammation.

"Yeah, he threw 34 (pitches), and like I said, we'll reassess him tomorrow," Martinez said. "We'll see how he feels and how he comes out of it today. So we'll see how he feels tomorrow and then we'll go from there."

Meanwhile, Erick Fedde, who is coming off perhaps the best outing of his career with seven scoreless innings on Sunday, remains on schedule to make that start should Strasburg be deemed not ready. That rotation spot comes up Friday for the series opener of the Battle of the Beltways against the Orioles at Nationals Park.

"He threw a bullpen today as well. He threw the ball well," Martinez said of Fedde. "So, yeah, he's definitely on schedule for Friday."

Other news and notes from Martinez's pregame presser before the Nationals continue their series against the Cubs ...

* The Nationals reinstated Patrick Corbin off the paternity list to make tonight's start and optioned Paolo Espino to Triple-A Rochester and returned him to the taxi squad for the rest of this road trip. Corbin's last start came on Thursday against the Phillies when he pitched seven innings of one-run ball.

And even with his newborn son now in the picture, Martinez says Corbin was able to stay on schedule and is ready for tonight's start.

"He did all of his work back in D.C.," the skipper said. "He had to take his intake test in order to come back. So he's here today and he's ready to go.

"He did his regular routine. We had guys stay back, trainers wise, and he was able to throw a bullpen, able to workout, so he did his basic routine for the last five days."

* Ryan Zimmerman is back in the starting lineup for the second time in three days.

You might be surprised to see the right-handed bat facing Cubs right-handed starter Zach Davies with the switch-hitting Josh Bell coming off a two-hit night from the left side of the plate. But Martinez clarified why Zimmerman is in the lineup tonight instead of Bell.

"I like the matchup today with Zim in there," Martinez said. "This guy's (Davies) got a little bit of a reverse (splits) in him. You know, Zim's been playing well, so he's going to get a chance to play first base today."

And sure enough, right-handers are hitting .355 with a .904 OPS off Davies over his first eight starts of the season, while lefties are tagging him for just a .231 average and .763 OPS.

But it's not just his splits. Martinez also pointed out that Davies has a pitch in his arsenal that's been tough on lefties.

"He's got a really good changeup, he's been tougher on lefties," Martinez said. "So I wanted to get Zim in there. We got four days here, so get him in there. Next two guys, Bell matches up good with them, so he'll play the next two days."

Meanwhile, Zimmerman is still hitting .237 off right-handers, while Bell is only hitting .192 while batting left-handed against righties.

* After all the attention on Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber's returns to Chicago yesterday, we sort of glossed over that Martinez was returning to the Windy City, too.

And, yes, he obviously has already returned to Chicago as the Nationals manager. But that doesn't make it any less significant for him when he makes the trip back, especially since he missed out on that trip last season. Even though he hasn't been able to visit some of his favorite local spots.

"It's been tough, a lot of restaurants are closed, especially for lunch," said Martinez. "But I always enjoy coming back here especially in the summertimes. A lot of fond memories. My first big league game I ever played was in Wrigley Field, so brings back a lot of good memories. I love it here, the fans are great. It's always a good place to play, the stadium's phenomenal. Get to play in that outfield and that ivy. I always tell our outfielders, 'Hey, whatever you do, don't run into that wall because it doesn't give, it's hard. So make sure you know where that wall is at all times.' But it's great and you saw yesterday, fans don't forget. And obviously with Schwarber getting the warm welcome, with Lester getting that warm welcome back, it was awesome."

(I know you're wondering: Martinez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first big league game.)

In speaking of Schwarber, Martinez confirmed that after last night's mid-game Twix snack in left field, left by Kris Bryant, and Schwarber's subsequent home run, the Twix bar is making its way into the left fielder's pregame ritual.

"Just so you know: He will have a Twix bar before the game today," Martinez said.