Strasburg to make another start Sunday in Fredericksburg

Stephen Strasburg will head back to Fredericksburg for his second rehab appearance, starting Sunday’s game for the Nationals’ low Single-A affiliate five days after taking the mound in a competitive game for the first time in nearly a year.

Strasburg, who allowed three runs while throwing 61 pitches in 2 2/3 innings Tuesday night for the FredNats, is slated to ramp up to 4-5 innings or 60-70 pitches, according to Nationals manager Davey Martinez. Because minor league teams now play six-game series every Tuesday-Sunday, he’ll be facing the same Salem Red Sox lineup he pitched against earlier this week.

The 33-year-old right-hander, recovering from last summer’s thoracic outlet surgery, is entering the final stages of a long rehab program. Martinez has said he’d like for him to reach six innings and 90 pitches before coming off the injured list and making his much anticipated season debut, perhaps sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.

Further evidence that Strasburg is getting closer to pitching for the Nationals: After pitching Sunday afternoon, he’ll drive back to D.C. and join his teammates on their charter flight to New York. While the Nats face the Mets during a three-game series at Citi Field, he’ll go through his typical between-starts routine.

“Our plans are, if everything goes well, to take him with us to New York so he can throw another bullpen with us,” Martinez said. “And then we’ll determine what happens next.”

If Strasburg remains on a five-day schedule, his third rehab start would come next Friday. The Nationals’ only affiliate playing at home then is Triple-A Rochester, which hosts Buffalo.

Strasburg has been careful not to think too far ahead and doesn’t want to have a date in mind to make his 2022 debut, but he expressed legitimate optimism following Tuesday’s first rehab start about the state of his arm and the progress he’s made.

“I’m just trying to stay focused on one day at a time and doing everything I can to get stronger, get the consistency where I know I need it to be,” he said. “It keeps trending in the right direction, so I can’t complain too much.”

While Strasburg moves closer to pitching for the Nationals again, Joe Ross is still awaiting a final decision on his elbow injury, which could require Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career.

Ross, who had been on an identical rehab schedule as Strasburg, had to depart his Tuesday night start for Double-A Harrisburg after his elbow tightened up in the third inning. An MRI taken the following day revealed a more substantial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament than was revealed last summer when he first went on the IL, but further tests were scheduled before he and the club decide a final course of action.

Meanwhile, third baseman Carter Kieboom did undergo Tommy John surgery, officially ending his season.

Kieboom, who hurt himself throwing in spring training, was hoping to make it back without needing surgery. But despite a long rehab program in Florida, his elbow pain resurfaced and the decision was made to have the ligament replacement, with eyes on making a full return in 2023.