While Friday marked an encouraging outing for one of the Nationals' pitchers on the injured list, another remains unclear when he'll return.
The Washington Nationals managed to open the West Coast road trip with a dominant win over the Arizona Diamondbacks late on Friday night, powered behind six home runs, but the team also got a mix of news with its pitching staff ahead of the opening pitch in the series.
For the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery back in April of 2025, left handed pitcher DJ Herz made his first rehab start where he tossed four strikeouts and did not allow either a hit or walk across two scoreless innings. It marks a notable step for Herz for not just being back out on the mound, but exiting the game with an encouraging showing in his first showing in nearly two years. Herz was also among the group of pitchers who worked to get back to full strength during spring training after manager Blake Butera noted the reliever made 25 throws from 120 feet away back on Feb. 13.
In his last appearance in a game during the 2024 season, Herz tossed a 4.16 ERA and allowing 11 home runs and 36 walks in 88.2 innings
Yet there was a mix of bad news after Blake Butera said that Jake Irvin has yet to throw after being placed on the injured list back on May 24. It was an encouraging sign when Irvin only went on the 15-day injured list, a chance for the Nationals to find a short-term stopgap with one of the young arms looking to capitalize on the vacancy. It may drag longer than that, though, with no timetable in place for a return to materialize.
In his last start, Irvin tossed five hitless innings in a game that was caught in a 41 minute rain delay, before expressing discomfort while warming up ahead of the sixth inning in the 2-0 win against the Atlanta Braves. Irvin sits on the injured list with a 5.23 ERA and 1.35 WHIP while owning a 2-4 record over 11 appearances.
Yet the Nationals have been able to fill out the rotation with one of the most intriguing MLB-ready arms in the organization as Andrew Alvarez has since taken his spot in the rotation. Alvarez is currently set to pitch on June 9, which marks game two of the three game series against the San Francisco Giants.
Meanwhile, the Nationals will look to climb back over .500 in game two of the series against the Diamondbacks with the two teams set to meet for a 4:10 PM first pitch on Saturday, June 6.
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