Weathers sharp in return from injured list as Marlins blank Nationals

A few hours before his first start in three months, a barefoot Ryan Weathers played ping pong and sang along to “Sweet Home Alabama” in the Marlins’ clubhouse.

Later, he shot pool while more of his music, a mix of country and rock, flowed from a Bluetooth speaker in the room.

But when it was time to take the mound Thursday, Weathers suddenly felt uneasy.

“I think of all of my starts in my career, today was probably the most nerves I’ve had,” he said. “The first time I’ve ever had an arm injury, so you want to come back and be normal.”

Mission accomplished.

The southpaw looked every bit as sharp Thursday as the Marlins could have hoped in his first game back from a left lat strain that landed him on the 60-day injured list — maybe even sharper.

Weathers’ five scoreless innings helped the Marlins beat the Nationals 5-0 at loanDepot park, marking back-to-back wins for them for only the third time in the past three weeks.

“Ryan was terrific,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough. “The one thing that stood out to me was how under control he looked right out of the chute. It would have been very easy with the length of layoff he had, and a ton of adrenaline getting back on a major league mound again, to get outside your mechanics and overthrow some. But I think Ryan right away was in a very good rhythm.”

Weathers, who allowed five hits, did “an immaculate job,” said catcher Brian Navaretto, who got a rare start behind the plate Thursday. Being the catcher of a shutout, he said, “I feel like this is better than a homer right now.”

At what point did the nerves go away for Weathers?

“I let a heater go towards the end of the first inning in the second or third [at-bat] and was like, all right, it’s real, I’m back, and I’m ready to rock and roll,” Weathers said.

Weathers struck out four, including the last two batters he faced in the first inning. He fanned Riley Adams with a 98.9 mph fastball to end the third inning with runners at the corners. It was not only his fastest pitch of the night but also the quickest he’s ever thrown in his career resulting in a strikeout.

“I saw a good moment to go up and away right there,” Weathers said. “I thought I had a little bit more in the tank on that one. I was definitely fishing for the punch-out there in that situation. He put up a good [at-bat]. I’m just happy I executed.”

He issued no walks and threw 68 pitches, 46 for strikes. McCullough had said before the game that Weathers would be limited to 80 to 85 pitches.

Daylen Lile and Andrés Chaparro singled to lead off the fourth for the Nationals, but Weathers got Brady House to hit into a 4-6-3 double play and Paul DeJong to groundout to extinguish the threat.

“Catching him in rehab [games], I was so comfortable with him and I know what he likes to do and what is working for him,” Navarreto said. “And today, his command and attacking the zone, his changeup, his sweeper, everything was good.”

Weathers worked with a lead most of his outing as the Marlins jumped ahead 2-0 lead in the first inning. Xavier Edwards scored on Heriberto Hernández’s sacrifice fly and Jakob Marsee came home on Eric Wagaman’s single to center. Wagaman drove in two more runs with a double in the eighth.

“I thought we swung the bats as a whole well again tonight,” McCullough said. “Eric Wagaman had a nice night. That was a really big hit he got in the eighth to extend the lead. And Marsee continues to find ways to get rallies started or come through in a variety of ways offensively. Good to get some early and then the ability late to tack on [runs].”

McCullough said he wanted to give Navaretto a chance to start, and a matchup with Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore was the ideal time to add another right-handed bat.

Ronny Henriquez became the fourth reliever in Marlins history to reach 90 strikeouts in a single season, joining Tanner Scott (2022 and 2023), Kyle Barraclough (2016) and Robb Nen (1996).

Right-handed reliever Seth Martinez was designated for assignment to make room on the roster for Weathers.