ATLANTA — The first of the long-injured Nationals returned Friday night when Washington activated Brian Goodwin from the 10-day disabled list, where he had been since April 17 after an injury to his left wrist. At the time, Goodwin thought he would be out for the 10-day minimum and may not even need that much time. He missed six weeks.

Goodwin said he was diagnosed with a bone bruise and damage to ligaments in the wrist. He said “strain,” though strains are in muscles and sprains are in ligaments. The Nationals officially called the injury a “left wrist contusion” and never publicly altered that diagnosis.

But something certainly seemed amiss when a “contusion” kept Goodwin out so long. The 27-year-old said he started swinging pain-free only a week and a half or so ago. As soon as he could, he began rehab games with Class AA Harrisburg. He hit .200 with one homer in four games with the Senators, though rehab results do not mean much. More importantly, he felt no discomfort in the wrist. When it was clear he was ready, Goodwin was so eager to return to the Nationals that he accidentally brought his Harrisburg jerseys with him to Atlanta, having forgotten to clear them out of his bag.

He thought he would miss five games with the wrist problem. He ended up missing 39.

“We were just going off of feel, doing everything we could to get it back together. With all the work we put in, all the time we put in, we really didn’t expect it to take as long as it did,” Goodwin said. “Unfortunately, to get it to where I could play comfortably, it took a little bit longer than expected.”

Goodwin jumped right into the starting lineup against the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, playing center field against right-hander Mike Foltynewicz at SunTrust Park. The extent of his playing time remains to be seen. Though Michael A. Taylor is struggling offensively, he is a superior defender to Goodwin. Complicating matters is the fact that Adam Eaton is due to return from the disabled list in a week or so, at which point neither Taylor nor Goodwin might be able to crack the starting lineup if rookie Juan Soto keeps hitting.

Nationals Manager Dave Martinez said Goodwin’s appearance in Friday’s lineup is not a sign that Taylor is slipping down the depth chart. Goodwin has shown himself adept at hitting hard-throwing right-handers, and Foltynewicz fits the profile. Taylor had not had a day off in two weeks.

“For me, Michael is the center fielder. He is. He saves us a lot of runs out there. He really does,” Martinez said. “I look at him as a Gold Glover.”

Martinez was less committal when discussing the outfield logjam he will have when Eaton returns. As he has said for some time, the Nationals will have decisions to make at that point.

They made one relatively clear-cut decision Friday, optioning Andrew Stevenson to Class AAA Syracuse to clear a spot for Goodwin. Stevenson was rushed to the majors by necessity last season, and the Nationals felt he would benefit from a full year in AAA this season. Then they had to rush him back to the big leagues because of injuries. He hit .255 with a .613 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in limited big league playing time but will now be able to get regular at-bats for the Chiefs.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS (32-23)

Trea Turner SS

Bryce Harper RF

Anthony Rendon 3B

Matt Adams 1B

Juan Soto LF

Brian Goodwin CF

Pedro Severino C

Stephen Strasburg P

Wilmer Difo 2B

ATLANTA BRAVES (33-23)

Ender Inciarte CF

Ozzie Albies 2B

Freddie Freeman 1B

Nick Markakis RF

Kurt Suzuki C

Johan Camargo 3B

Preston Tucker LF

Dansby Swanson SS

Mike Foltynewicz P

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