Making his first appearance since late June, Early showed considerable rust in needing 35 pitches to get through his lone inning of work. He averaged 93 mph with his four-seamer in the outing, which is one mph less than his average for the season. As long as Early recovers well from the start, he could make his Nationals debut next week. It would be an abbreviated outing but could offer the southpaw some peace of mind with his health heading into the offseason. Early missed nearly three months with left elbow inflammation.

Early had been scheduled to kick off his rehab assignment and make his organizational debut Sunday with Double-A Harrisburg, but the affiliate's game was rained out that day. The Nationals will now look to have Early report to their Triple-A affiliate to continue building on his workload, after he tossed 30 pitches in a bridge league game one week earlier. After his upcoming rehab start, the Nationals could elect to bring Early back from the 60-day injured list for his next outing, though he likely wouldn't be stretched out enough to handle a traditional starting role.