WASHINGTON — Nationals right-hander Josiah Gray will have season-ending surgery for a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, the team announced Friday.

It won’t be clear until Dr. Keith Meister operates on the elbow on Wednesday in Texas whether Gray’s injury will require an internal brace or Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery. The latter procedure could sideline him for most or all of the 2025 season.

Gray, 26, was Washington’s Opening Day starter but made only two starts before being shut down because of a sore elbow and forearm. He tried to rehabilitate the injury but felt fatigued during his last minor league rehab start on June 30 and had an MRI over the All-Star break.

Now, he won’t pitch again until 2025.

“It’s a setback. We can all admit that,” Gray said. “But it is something, you know, you can grow from, you can learn from, and come back better. And in talking with all my friends around baseball, I’ve been able to just understand that it is, you know, just a blip on the radar.

“It’s not going to be the end of my story.”

Gray was a prized acquisition for the Nationals in the July 2021 trade that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers as Washington began rebuilding, less than two years after its World Series title.

He is 17-27 with a 4.80 ERA in 72 starts for Washington.

BLUE JAYS: Joey Votto was scratched from his scheduled start for Triple-A Buffalo on Friday night after reinjuring his right ankle during pregame warmups

Votto, 40, signed a minor-league deal with Toronto on March 9. He homered off Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler in his only spring training at-bat on March 17, but has been sidelined by ankle and back issues.

FRIDAY’S GAME

DIAMONDBACKS 5, CUBS 2: Gabriel Moreno had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run, leading Arizona to a victory at Chicago.

Ryne Nelson (7-6) struck out nine and allowed just three hits in five-plus innings as Arizona won for the seventh time in 10 games.