The Chicago Cubs are hoping three straight days out of the lineup will bring some life back to the bat of Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Crow-Armstrong is expected to be back in center field when the Cubs (80-60) open a three-game series against the visiting Washington Nationals (56-83) on Friday afternoon.
Crow-Armstrong hit just .160 in August with a .446 OPS and one home run.
He made his first MLB All-Star appearance in July after hitting .265 through that point of the season with an .847 OPS.
He had 25 home runs and 71 RBIs at the All-Star break. He has just three homers and 12 RBIs since then.
Crow-Armstrong was used as a defensive replacement late in the game on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves. Chicago manager Craig Counsell didn’t use Crow-Armstrong in Wednesday’s series finale, and the Cubs had Thursday off.
“We’re giving him a real break,” Counsell said before Wednesday’s game. “Just to give him a physical and mental break, and then going into the last 3 1/2 weeks of the season, hopefully, a little bit refreshed.”
The Cubs plan to start right-hander Javier Assad on Friday.
Assad (1-1, 4.05 ERA) will be making his fifth start since he was recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Aug. 22.
The 28-year-old earned his first victory of the season his last time out, allowing three runs and seven hits in six innings of a 4-3 win against the Colorado Rockies last Saturday.
Assad has made three appearances against the Nationals in his career, including two starts. He is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 16 innings.
The Nationals are coming off a three-game sweep of the visiting Miami Marlins, which came on the heels of an eight-game losing streak.
Washington will be trying to win four in a row for the first time since late May.
Brady House has owned the hot hand for the Nationals of late.
The rookie third baseman is 5-for-12 in his past four games with a double, home run and four RBIs.
House, who made his MLB debut on June 16, didn’t hit his first home run until going deep twice on July 12 in a 6-5 road loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
He singled and hit his third home run of the season in a 10-5 win against Miami on Wednesday.
“It’s a good feeling to put the ball in play, especially whenever I have runners on,” House said.
Washington interim manager Miguel Cairo said there was an adjustment period for House coming out of Triple-A.
“The big leagues is just a different animal,” Cairo said. “It’s different. You’ve got the best pitchers, you’ve got the best relievers, and teams make an adjustment on you. You’ve just got to learn how to make that adjustment. He’s been working really hard on making adjustments and just being himself. He’s only 22, and you can see the future that he has ahead.”
Right-hander Jake Irvin is scheduled to start the series opener for Washington.
Irvin (8-10, 5.42) went 0-5 in six starts in August with an 8.78 ERA. He most recently gave up four runs and five hits in six innings of a 4-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Rays last Saturday.
That represented his best start of the month.
“I felt great all game. The results were unfortunate,” Irvin said. “When they hit three balls to the outfield and two of them leave the yard, it’s even more unfortunate. I’ve got to find a way to keep the ball in the yard, but pleased with the way we attacked the zone and went right after guys.”
Irvin has made four starts against the Cubs in his career and is 0-3 with an 8.00 ERA in 18 innings.