WASHINGTON — The Padres are going for a sweep of the Nationals and a five-game winning streak, which would match their season high.

They  will do so Thursday afternoon (9:05 a.m. PT) without Luis Arraez in the starting lineup. Their lead-off hitter is getting what has become a semi-regular day off against a left-handed starter in order to rest his balky left thumb.

Padres lineup vs. Nationals LHP Patrick Corbin:

Profar 7
Solano 5
Bogaerts 4
Machado DH
Cronenworth 3
Kim 6
Merrill 8
Campusano 2
Johnson 9

SP: Cease

— Kevin Acee (@sdutKevinAcee) July 25, 2024

As is standard this time of year, with the MLB trade deadline on Tuesday, the game is being played in the shadow of other goings-on.

For the Padres, those other things have to do with pitching — what they appear to have coming back and what they expect to acquire.

The two are somewhat intertwined.

Joe Musgrove sent ripples of excitement through the organization with his latest bullpen session, Wednesday at Nationals Park.

He threw more than 40 pitches at full intensity for a bullpen session, sitting down for a time in the middle to simulate throwing multiple innings. He got up to 93 mph with his fastball and used his entire arsenal.

The internal discussions set for Thursday is whether his next step will still be to face hitters at Petco Park early in the week or progress to pitching an inning in a minor-league rehab start.

“I prefer the game for a lot of reasons,” Musgrove said.

Not the least of those, he said, is that pitching in a rehab game “cuts a week off” the timeline for his return. he also relishes the game intensity.

That return is expected in the latter half of August.

Musgrove, who was arguably the Padres’ top starting pitcher over the past three seasons, has not pitched since May 26 due to a recurrence of elbow discomfort caused by bone spurs and a bone bruise.

The seemingly positive developments with Musgrove don’t necessarily change the Padres’ plans for the trade deadline. But they do serve to bolster confidence in their course.

While sources have maintained the Padres should not be ruled out from competing for the top starting pitchers available in the trade market, they are generally said by those familiar with their discussions to be serious players for a middle- to back of the rotation starter who can give them innings.

Off days have allowed them to navigate the past couple weeks with just four starters, but that cannot continue. In fact, they will insert a fifth starter for a turn on Friday in Baltimore. They have not revealed their Friday plan yet.

Whoever starts the series opener against the Orioles, the Padres do not anticipate that being a regular option.

And while they have an abundance of days off over the season’s final two-plus months as well, they do not believe they can effectively make a postseason run without adding a starter. (They begin Thursday in a virtual tie for the National League’s final wild-card playoff spot.)

While the market for starters is thin at the top, there are a good number of available back-end starters the Padres are targeting.

They are poised to make moves, perhaps in the next day or two. That first deal, however, could be for a reliever, as they have prioritized a higher-leverage right-handed reliever for some time.

After cruising to a 12-3 victory on Tuesday, they have their high-leverage trio of relievers (Jeremiah Estrada, Adrián Morejón and Robert Suarez) available Thursday.

Dylan Cease, who has allowed one hit and no runs in each of his past two starts, goes in the finale against the Nationals.

103. pic.twitter.com/VxPHc1fR2T

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 25, 2024

Originally Published: July 25, 2024 at 7:54 a.m.