Washington Nationals news & notes: Off-day notes and quotes – Josiah Gray, Patrick Corbin + more…

The Nationals have a day off before they start a series with the Oakland A’s tomorrow…

JOSIAH GRAY’S REPLACEMENT:

Joan Adon got the start in place of the injured Josiah Gray on Tuesday night in Oracle Park, but the 25-year-old starter (who acquitted himself well in San Francisco) was optioned out to Triple-A Rochester on Wednesday, with catcher Drew Millas called up for the finale with the Giants.

Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez was asked before the second of three games in the series if we might see Jackson Rutledge up while Josiah Gray is out resting his injured elbow.

Rutledge, the recently-turned-25-year-old, 2019 1st Round pick, made his debut late in 2023 with the Nationals, and impressed in Spring Training this year before he was optioned out to Triple-A Rochester. Will we see him up in the majors again soon with Gray’s spot to be filled?

And why wasn’t he the choice for Tuesday’s turn in the rotation?

Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images

“I wanted [Rutledge] to get a few more starts before we decide what we’re going to do,” Martinez told reporters.

“I want him to go out there and really feel good about himself. He’s thrown the ball well, but we want to get him going.

“And then we’ll see where we’re at with him here in the near future.”

Gray, in comments after he landed on the IL, said he was frustrated he won’t be able to go out there every five days and help his team for a while.

“It sucks,” he said succinctly. “Ever since I joined the Nationals, I made every single start that I was scheduled to make. And I prided myself on doing that.

“So obviously it’s a little bit of a gut punch to come to the ballpark and not be slated in the five-man rotation for the foreseeable future.

“It’s a harsh reality of what we do as pitchers, especially in today’s game.

“Injury risk is going up. It definitely gives you a sense of reality in what we do. Unfortunately, I have to miss some time, but I don’t think it’s going to change anything I really do.”

As GM and President of Baseball Operations Mike Rizzo said during his weekly visit with The Sports Junkies on Audacy’s 106.7 The Fan on Wednesday morning, they are going to be very careful with Gray as he recovers from what was diagnosed as a, “right elbow/forearm flexor strain.”

Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

As both Martinez and Gray said when the spoke on Tuesday, the diagnosis, and the MRI on his elbow/forearm, were as good as they could hope for, with no UCL issues identified.

“I think it’s as good a news as you can get when you’re talking about a pitcher going on the [Injured List],” Rizzo told the Junkies. “He had some tenderness in his elbow, I think you could see it the start before, he didn’t look himself, in my opinion. He was pushing the baseball, his [velocity] was down a tick, but didn’t feel anything. So good for him, throwing his next bullpen and saying something. We got him checked out. The MRI looked as good as you could look. It had some inflammation, but the ligament is really sound, it’s thick, and it’s healthy, so that’s a good sign. So we’ll ramp him up, get him going, but we’re going to take our time with him and be careful and patient like we do with all of our pitchers and see if he can come back with a little rest, come back, and get back to where he was at the beginning of last year.”

Millas was optioned back to Triple-A Rochester after the Nationals’ 7-1 loss in the finale with the Giants. The next move before the start of the upcoming series with the A’s in Oakland?

“I think we’re going to end up needing another pitcher. Our bullpen has been pretty beat up, so we got a day to figure things out and then we’ll know what we’re going to do Friday,” Martinez said.

NO SWEEP:

Davey Martinez’s club took 2 of 3 from the Giants in Oracle Park, but failed to sweep, with a 7-1 loss in the finale.

After a few well-played wins in San Francisco, things fell apart for Washington in the bottom of the second on Wednesday, with the inning extended when Jacob Young tracked a fly ball to the wall in center (off Nick Ahmed’s bat), but dropped it when he hit the fence hard and it popped out of his glove. Matt Chapman, who’d singled to start the inning, scored on the hit to center (scored a triple for Ahmed), and two more runs scored before the inning was over.

With two more off starter Patrick Corbin in the fifth, and two in the sixth, the Giants added to their lead and avoided a sweep with a six-run win.

“There was a lot of miscues,” Martinez explained after the loss.

“Tough play by Jacob [Young]. He did a great job. If he hold onto that ball we’re out of the inning, and then [Corbin] gives up three runs.

“They hit a few balls hard, but a lot of dinkers, you know. But it was really the miscues cost us some runs.”

Corbin ended up giving up 11 hits and seven earned runs in 5 ²⁄₃ IP in Oracle Park.

“His line won’t look good,” his manager said. “But I thought he pitched better than what his line says. So we’ll get him back out there and get him going. When he threw the ball down he was effective. And once again, when he throws the ball up, he gets hit pretty hard.”

Martinez’s club did get the series win though.

“I thought the first two games were good. This one, not so good. We didn’t hit. There were some miscues. But we’re playing well.”

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