MLB Player News

Wood (oblique) is expected to be activated from the injured list Wednesday, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.

Manager Blake Butera said that Wood's return is contingent on him feeling good when he wakes up Wednesday morning, but chances are that he returns to the Nationals' lineup for their series finale against Atlanta. The 23-year-old has slashed .265/.393/.535 across 535 plate appearances when healthy this season, though he owns just a .620 OPS in the 17 games he's played since the All-Star break.

The Nationals optioned Pinckney to Triple-A Rochester on Tuesday.

With James Wood (oblique) expected to return from the injured list Wednesday, the Nationals will send Pinckney down to Triple-A to free up a roster spot. The 25-year-old performed well during his first stint with the big club, going 6-for-22 with a homer, two RBI, six runs and a steal while appearing in 13 games.

Pauley went 2-for-4 with a home run, a triple, four RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Royals.

Recalled from Triple-A Jacksonville on Tuesday morning, Pauley drew the start at third base and made an immediate impact, launching a two-run homer off Randy Dobnak in his first plate appearance. He added a two-run triple in the seventh to establish a career high with four RBI. Pauley has struggled to find much consistency at the major-league level this season, as he is now slashing .205/.237/.357 with two homers across 47 games.

Finnegan allowed five runs on three hits and two walks while retiring only one batter in relief during Tuesday's 15-2 loss to the Twins.

Finnegan didn't take the loss, as Detroit starter Troy Melton was also hit hard as he allowed seven runs (five earned) in 5.1 innings, but the righty reliever was wholly ineffective out of the bullpen. The 34-year-old saw his ERA climb from 3.27 to 4.07, and the rough performance comes on the heels of a month in which he posted a subpar 5.00 ERA and 1.67 WHIP across 10 appearances. Finnegan will look to turn things around in September, though he's not off to an encouraging start, and his fantasy value remains limited in a setup role for a team that is now 12 games below .500.

Lord will start Wednesday's game against Atlanta, Kyle Williams of TheBanner.com reports.

Jackson Kent threw 106 pitches during his last appearance, so the Nationals will buy him and the team's other starters some extra rest by starting Lord in Wednesday's series finale. The 26-year-old righty will likely remain in the game for just a couple of innings after working less than three frames during each of the three starts he made in August.

Dobnak (2-3) took the loss Tuesday against the Marlins, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out six over six innings.

Dobnak threw 54 of 87 pitches for strikes and surrendered homers to Graham Pauley and Kyle Stowers. He came out for the seventh inning but allowed three consecutive hits, resulting in two runs scoring before exiting and another eventually being charged to him. The six runs were his most in any of his 16 MLB appearances since 2021. Across nine starts and two relief appearances this season, Dobnak owns a 2.65 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 40:23 K:BB over 57.2 innings. He's slated to face Toronto in his next trip to the mound.

Irvin allowed two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out five across four innings in a no-decision against Atlanta on Tuesday.

Irvin gave up a solo homer to Ozzie Albies in the second inning before yielding another run in the third. Irvin was pulled in the fifth inning after giving up back-to-back singles without recording an out, and it was a second consecutive outing in which he failed to complete five innings, finishing Tuesday's outing with 86 pitches (57 strikes) and nine whiffs. Irvin is 0-4 over his last seven starts with a 6.09 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 29:18 K:BB over 34 innings. He's lined up to face the Padres next week in what projects to be a two-start week for Irvin.

Morales went 3-for-5 with a double, a solo home run and an additional run scored during Washington's 9-5 win over Atlanta on Tuesday.

Morales was promoted from Triple-A Rochester ahead of Tuesday's game, when he served as the designated hitter. He struck out swinging in his first plate appearance in the opening frame, but he bounced back in the third, smacking the second pitch he saw from AJ Smith-Shawver deep to left-center field for a solo home run. It was an impressive big-league debut for Morales, who figures to see a fair amount of playing time the rest of this season at DH and at first and third base.

Phillips (4-6) earned the win Tuesday against the Royals, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out four over five scoreless innings.

Phillips surrendered a leadoff single to Carter Jensen in the first inning but held Kansas City without another knock the rest of the way. The one hit marked his fewest in any outing of at least five innings this season. The right-hander has now allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of his last 10 appearances and will carry a 3.43 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 90:47 K:BB across 110.1 innings into his next scheduled start Sunday against the Cubs.

Arrighetti (7-8) took the loss against the Guardians on Tuesday, allowing two runs on two hits and one walk while striking out two across 3.2 innings.

Spencer Miles drew the start for the Blue Jays on Tuesday, and Arrighetti took over in the third inning after Ricky Tiedemann pitched the second. Arrighetti kept the Guardians off the board until the fifth inning, when he gave up a two-run homer to Patrick Bailey, and the former did not receive enough run support from his Blue Jays teammates to avoid the loss. Arrighetti has been tagged with the loss in each of his first three outings with the Blue Jays, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits (including three home runs) and five walks while striking out 10 batters across 11 innings. He could be used as a starter or in a bulk-relief role this weekend on the road against the Royals.