Game 58: Padres at Nats

The Nationals return home to face some familiar faces from San Diego. Plus, updates on Cole Henry and Jake Irvin.

The Nationals are back home after a hugely successful road trip, owners of a winning record and now hosting the Padres in a weekend series that should include both beautiful weather and big crowds (especially for tonight’s opener, which is followed by the Taio Cruz concert).

The Padres feature a host of familiar faces, mostly on the coaching staff. Manager Craig Stammen (yes, MANAGER Craig Stammen) has assembled a staff including bench coach Randy Knorr, third-base coach Bob Henley and hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. That’s a lot of Nats experience right there.

Speaking of former Nats … starting tonight for San Diego is Lucas Giolito. Believe it or not, it’s been nine years since the 2012 first-round pick made his MLB debut here at Nationals Park. He’s been on a long and winding journey since, one that included a dominant start here last July 4 as a member of the Red Sox, a series that concluded with the firings of Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez.

Andrew Alvarez is pitching for the Nationals tonight, taking over Jake Irvin’s rotation spot. But he’s not actually starting this game. That honor will go to Paxton Schultz, who will serve as opener, with Blake Butera looking to counter the right-handed-heavy top portion of San Diego’s lineup. Alvarez should get plenty of innings behind Schultz as the bulk guy.

The Nats also have a new (actually, old) face joining their bullpen tonight: Cole Henry. The right-hander, who missed six weeks with a rotator cuff strain but recently made five rehab appearances at Triple-A Rochester and proved himself both healthy and effective. He’ll assume the spot that opened up when the club optioned PJ Poulin back to Triple-A after Wednesday’s game.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: Nationals TV, FOX 5 (channel listings)
Radio: 106.7 FM
Weather: Clear, 77 degrees, wind 9 mph out to center

PADRES
2B Fernando Tatis Jr.
LF Gavin Sheets
SS Xander Bogaerts
3B Manny Machado
CF Jackson Merrill
DH Miguel Andujar
RF Ramón Laureano
1B Ty France
C Freddy Fermin

RHP Lucas Giolito

NATIONALS
DH James Wood
1B Luis García Jr.
3B Curtis Mead
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
LF Daylen Lile
CF Jacob Young
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Nasim Nuñez

RHP Paxton Schultz

PREGAME NOTES

Photo by Billy Sabatini / ALL-PRO REELS

HENRY FEELING STRONG AFTER REHAB

Having been through his share of major injuries while in the minor leagues, Cole Henry wanted to make sure he kept himself available whenever the Nationals needed him out of the bullpen. But after appearing in six of the team’s first 12 games this season, he realized he wasn’t physically where he needed to be.

One of those appearances, April 8 against the Cardinals, included 43 pitches. When he took the mound again four days later, he realized his arm slot had dropped, likely as compensation for his shoulder feeling fatigued. Henry went on the 15-day IL with a right rotator cuff strain that now finally feels 100 percent again.

“I just threw a lot the beginning of the year. I don’t think I was fully, maybe not ready yet for that kind of workload,” he said. “But I was able to bounce back pretty well to get some rehab in. It’s been feeling so much better since I came back. Velocity’s been a lot better. Offspeed’s been great. I’m excited to get back out there and get back on a Major League Baseball field.”

The Nats gave Henry time to get himself both healthy and back in proper mechanical form. He made five rehab appearances for Rochester, surrendering one earned run and walking only one while striking out four, the most recent appearance a scoreless inning Wednesday against Syracuse.

“Getting some adrenaline back, it felt great,” he said. “I had some kinks I had to work through at the beginning, just to get my feet back wet, get back into the game. But everything’s feeling great and in tune.”

IRVIN HAS YET TO THROW

Despite initial hopes he would resume throwing shortly after being placed on the 15-day IL, Jake Irvin has yet to be cleared for that activity. The right-hander, who departed Saturday’s start in Atlanta after five no-hit innings, was diagnosed with a shoulder strain, with club officials saying he would be shut down for two days but then could begin throwing.

Manager Blake Butera confirmed today, though, that Irvin has not been allowed to throw yet. The Nationals are taking it “day-by-day” in their medical evaluations before determining the next steps.

“That was the initial thought,” Butera said of the plan to take only two days off. “But I think we just needed to make sure it’s recovering the way it is. And the same thing we’ve told Jake all along: Our goal is we want you to be at that minimum (15-day) stay, but at the end of the day, we want to make sure Jake’s fully healthy. Because if we’re going to make a run at this thing, we need him to be fully healthy and not worried about this. So if that takes a handful of days more than we had originally planned before we’ve even gotten to reevaluate him, then we would do that.”