Williams updates Zimmerman, Rendon, Barrett, Gonzalez and Desmond

Nationals manager Matt Williams had an update on first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and the plantar fasciitis in his right foot that has kept him out of the lineup since June 10.

"Good. (He's) progressing," Williams said. "Zim's not quite running yet, but he's doing the other things that he needs to do to get prepared. Once that pain gets out of there, he'll be able to get running on the basepaths and move the process along a little bit."

Williams said Anthony Rendon's left quad strain won't allow him to sprint yet, but he has resumed other baseball related activities. Rendon has been out since June 25.

"Hitting, throwing, no running for him yet," Williams said. "It's going to take some time for that one to heal up and get ready to go again."

Shortstop Ian Desmond is back in the starting lineup after sitting out the final game of the Braves series. Desmond went 0-for-8 with six strikeouts in the first two games in Atlanta this week. Williams said Desmond had a good workout Thursday after moving his hands up a bit on the bat in looking to make a slight adjustment to try to help his approach.

"It was a good day yesterday," Williams said. "He's back in there today. Got some muscle memory working yesterday. Had a great round of batting practice, worked after the game the night before, early yesterday and batting practice yesterday. It's not something that gets fixed overnight for sure. Especially if your changing hand position and approach a little bit. So it will take some time, but he feels free and feels like his path is better to the baseball. If his path is good, then the results come."

Right-hander Aaron Barrett pitched one scoreless inning this week for high Single-A Potomac at Frederick as he rehabs from a right biceps strain. Barrett is expected to go again Saturday night.

"He's scheduled to pitch again tomorrow I believe," Williams said. "It will be the same process. One inning, 20-ish pitches. It's part of the progression. He pitched. Had a couple of days off and he'll get back at it."

Williams wouldn't confirm where but said it depends on weather conditions.

Barrett is still on the Potomac Nationals roster and they have a home game on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. against Wilmington. I would expect Barrett to pitch that inning for Potomac tomorrow night.

Left-hander Gio Gonzalez gets an additional day of rest to six days for tonight's start against the Giants, despite only getting to throw 18 pitches and one total inning last Saturday because of the postponed game at Philadelphia.

"Having all that time off and not throwing, throwing 18 pitches in the last 10 days is never what you want, but it is what it is," Williams said. "He worked hard in between that one and this one. A little bit heavier side, hopefully it's back to feeling all of his pitches again today early on and he can go get them."

Williams said it's pretty simple game plan for Gonzalez, when he is on he is effective because he has control of all of his pitches.

"We talked about it every time he pitches, but it really is true that if he can command his off-speed pitches, then he does well," Williams said. "Helps his fastball, keeps his pitch count down, he gets some chase. All of those things help him succeed.

"If he does get in trouble, its generally the base on balls that gets him in that trouble. So it's important for him to throw strikes, change speeds, work as quickly as he can. When he's feeling it and when he's throwing all of his pitches for strikes, he works pretty quick. Gets the ball and gets back on the mound and throws it again. Hopefully, more of that today."