It didn’t. He tried to throw Wednesday but scratched himself from a spring training appearance. He had more treatment Thursday and felt progress. He played catch, threw on flat ground and pitched from a mound on Friday. Then he made his spring debut Saturday — struggling against the Minnesota Twins because he couldn’t finish pitches and his velocity dipped — and later received an injection of Toradol (a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory) to relieve the lingering stiffness in his back. An MRI exam soon revealed a lower-back strain and now he is shut down, working his way back to the field.

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It seemed in mid-February that Miller was in a three- or four-way competition for one of Washington’s final bullpen spots. Nationals Manager Dave Martinez does not see it that way.

“A healthy Justin Miller will be in our bullpen,” said Martinez on Tuesday, dragging out the words for emphasis. “So we’ll see where we’re at.”

That “we’ll see” pertains to Miller’s health. He is the second Nationals reliever to be sidelined this spring. Koda Glover has a forearm strain and, given his list of past injuries, is taking small steps toward a return. Miller will throw lightly on Tuesday with hopes that it will go better than it did on Saturday. He gave up two runs in that one inning against the Twins, noting that he couldn’t use his lower half and was only using his arm to generate velocity.

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That’s a risky way to throw in early March — or any time of the year — which is why Martinez won’t put Miller in another game until he is 100 percent healthy. He had a workhorse role for the Nationals last season, finishing with a 7-1 record and a 3.65 ERA in 52⅓ innings after joining the team in late May. He was mostly a middle-inning reliever but, once injuries sapped the bullpen of its key arms, entered in high-leverage spots and even notched two saves. Martinez envisions him as a fifth- or sixth-inning option, the kind of swing man Washington will need if Jeremy Hellickson is still a two-times-through-the-order starter.

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But health has to come first, and that starts with careful management of his short-term workload.

“Today we’re going to try to play catch and see how it goes,” Miller said Tuesday, adding that his back did feel better. “We’ll just play it by ear and take it slow.”

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With Martinez calling a “healthy Justin Miller” a surefire part of his bullpen, the Nationals’ relievers begin to take shape. The definites are closer Sean Doolittle, setup man Trevor Rosenthal, Kyle Barraclough and lefty Matt Grace. Add Miller, assuming his back doesn’t keep him out past Opening Day on March 28, and Washington has five of the seven relievers it is expected to carry on its 25-man roster. Then there are two spots for some combination of Glover (if he is healthy by the start of the season), lefty Sammy Solis and righty Wander Suero, whose solid reverse splits make the Nationals feel less of a need for a third lefty with Doolittle and Grace. Relievers Austen Williams, Vidal Nuno and Jimmy Cordero are on the outside looking in.

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The Nationals also remain interested in star closer Craig Kimbrel, and his acquisition would flip this conjecture onto its head. But Washington’s bullpen without Kimbrel, one of the game’s best relievers, is a relative question mark compared with the team’s rotation and lineup. After Doolittle, Rosenthal and Barraclough, whom Martinez has called his high-leverage options, roles are unclear. So is whether Grace and Miller can build on their strong showings last season and bridge the gap between proven starters and the back of the bullpen.

Miller was job-hunting at this time last year, coming off a season without any major league appearances, hoping for just one team to give him a shot. The Nationals did, signing him to a minor league deal, and now he feels like he can again provide value to their bullpen. Martinez agrees.

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“Of course I’m itching to be out there,” Miller said. “Based on what I did last year, I’m trying to do the same thing this year.”

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