Game 127: Nats at Rangers

Jackson Kent makes his second career start as the Nationals open a three-game series in Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas – Hello from the giant airport hanger known as Globe Life Field, which somehow is still dwarfed by the even-bigger AT&T Stadium (aka Jerry World) next door. The Nationals make their biannual trip to North Texas for three straight night games against the Rangers, hoping for a far better result than they got over the weekend in New York.

Jackson Kent makes his second MLB start, and he’ll be hoping to throw more strikes this time around. The 23-year-old lefty walked five batters in only four innings against the Cubs, racking up a high pitch count of 78. The good news: Kent walked fewer than three batters per nine innings as a minor leaguer, so hopefully that was just a case of debut nerves. And he did strike out six during those four innings, showing off some impressive stuff.

Texas, one of a bunch of teams still in the thick of the AL wild-card race despite a losing record, sends right-hander Cal Quantrill to the mound tonight. The 31-year-old journeyman has enjoyed a solid season as both a starter and reliever, but he tends not to throw more than about 80 pitches.

CJ Abrams is the DH tonight. Scroll down below the lineups for an update on the plan to give him his first start at second base soon, plus updates on Josiah Gray and Connelly Early …

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Globe Life Field
Gametime: 8:05 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
DH CJ Abrams
1B Abimelec Ortiz
3B Brady House
LF Daylen Lile
RF Dylan Crews
2B Jorbit Vivas
C Harry Ford
SS Nasim Nuñez
CF Jacob Young

LHP Jackson Kent

RANGERS
LF Wyatt Langford
SS Corey Seager
1B Jake Burger
RF Brandon Nimmo
3B Ezequiel Duran
DH Justin Foscue
C Danny Jansen
3B Cody Freeman
CF Evan Carter

RHP Cal Quantrill

PREGAME NOTES

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

ABRAMS COULD START AT 2B ON WEDNESDAY

CJ Abrams is serving as the Nationals’ designated hitter tonight, but he’s getting a full pregame workout at second base, and manager Blake Butera said there’s a chance he could make his first start at his new position as soon as Wednesday night.

“We’ll see how today’s work goes,” Butera said. “I think the earliest would be tomorrow. I’m not ruling that out. But it depends how the work goes today.”

Butera announced Friday the club’s plan to begin transitioning Abrams to second base, but he still started all three weekend games in New York at shortstop while getting some one-on-one defensive work on the other side of the infield earlier in the day.

As they move closer to actually making the move, the Nats decided to have Abrams serve as DH tonight while going through full drills at second base during batting practice with the rest of the team. They ideally want to have the two-time All-Star start playing games at the new position as soon as possible but insist they won’t do it until everyone signs off.

“And then also talking with him and making sure he has a say in this,” Butera said. “If he’s not ready to play second base on his account, then I’m not going to put him over there. When he gives me the thumbs-up, when our coaches give me the thumbs-up, when both those things are in place, that’s when we’ll do it.”

GRAY SCHEDULED TO PITCH FOR FREDERICKSBURG

Josiah Gray is scheduled to make his long-awaited 2026 game debut tonight, pitching one inning for Single-A Fredericksburg in a rehab assignment.

The right-hander, who has not pitched in an MLB game since April 2024 and had Tommy John surgery later that summer, thought he was on the verge of making it back this spring, only to suffer a setback shortly before Opening Day. He spent the last four months rehabbing in West Palm Beach, eventually building up to throwing off a mound and facing live hitters before being cleared to pitch in tonight’s game.

“Obviously hope he comes out of it healthy,” Butera said. “But just for him to be on the mound again pitching in a game, where they’re keeping score and there’s two different uniforms and all that stuff, is just really exciting when you have that long of a road and the battle that he’s had. I’m really happy for him.”

Gray, who made the All-Star team in 2023 and started Opening Day in 2024 before getting hurt, has visions of returning to pitch in the majors before season’s end. The Nationals aren’t ruling out that possibility but are being careful not to think too far ahead before seeing how he handles his rehab starts.

“I always think about it on my own, but at the end of the day, with how long he’s been out and with what he’s had to go through, I think the first thing is: Let’s just see how he does tonight, and take this thing step-by-step rather than trying to say in three weeks ... this is where he’s going to pitch and this is how long he’s going to go,” Butera said. “I don’t think that’s fair to him or us.”

EARLY THROWS OFF MOUND

Connelly Early threw off a mound today in West Palm Beach for the first time since suffering a setback in his recovery from an injured elbow earlier this month. The left-hander, acquired from the Red Sox for Curtis Mead in late-July, originally was pegged to be big-league-ready by mid-August.

The Nats have since taken a more cautious approach with him and are willing to wait until next spring for his club debut if necessary.

“Making sure he’s 100 percent right is definitely the priority,” Butera said. “I think we still have hopes that he’s going to pitch with us this year. I don’t think that’s the expectation, if that makes sense. I think the expectation is that we get him back to being 100 percent. And then the hope is that maybe he pitches with us.”

The Nationals do see value in Early (who is under club control for five more seasons) returning this season, even if for only one or two appearances. But they won’t force it.

“We’re not going to put that ahead of his health,” Butera said. “Are you 100 percent? Alright, let’s see if we can get you in some games before the offseason. But if it’s borderline, we’re going to be on the conservative side.”