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Nationals Place Tanner Rainey On 10-Day Injured List

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The Nationals have placed right-handed reliever Tanner Rainey on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain and recalled fellow righty Aaron Barrett from their alternate site, the team announced.

Considering the nature of his injury, it seems highly questionable whether Rainey will pitch again this season – especially with the Nationals at 17-28 and unlikely to qualify for the playoffs. Not much has gone right for the reigning World Series champions this year, but Rainey has been a bright spot in 2020.

Acquired from the Reds for righty Tanner Roark entering 2019, Rainey was a useful part of Washington’s bullpen in his first season as a member of the club, with which he logged a 3.91 ERA/4.37 FIP and posted 13.78 K/9 and 7.08 BB/9 in 48 1/3 innings. Fortunately, the walks and runs have gone way down this season for the 27-year-old, hard-throwing Rainey, who owns a 2.66 ERA/3.79 FIP with 14.66 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over 20 1/3 frames.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, May, A’s, Piscotty, Nationals, Doolittle, Rainey

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Dustin May left his start on Thursday after just one inning, but the Dodgers received good news today. There’s no fracture in May’s foot, as was feared, but a contusion still garners a day-to-day status and an eventual IL stint is not out of the question, per Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (via Twitter). There may be some smoke and mirrors behind May’s 2.81 ERA, as a 4.51 FIP suggests the underlying work hasn’t been as strong as the ERA. At a surface level, May’s strikeouts have been down to 6.0 K/9 while a 2.2 BB/9 mark represents a slight year-over-year increase. Let’s get another couple injury updates from around the game…

  • The Oakland A’s face a reality without star third baseman Matt Chapman in the lineup for the rest of the season. The good news for Oakland is they’ve built a 7-game lead over the Astros for the division, and with less than a third of the season remaining, they have 99.6% likelihood of winning the West, per Fangraph’s playoff odds. They’ll get a little more help with Stephen Piscotty expected to return to the lineup today, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). The 29-year-old outfielder carries a .264/.308/.438 line through 131 plate appearances, 4% better than average so far this season with the stick. Piscotty was given the last two days off, but he will be in the lineup for the second game of today’s doubleheader.
  • Sean Doolittle hasn’t been his dominant self the last year or so, though he’s largely remained a productive arm for the Nats. Luckily for Washington, Doolittle’s up-and-down spells were on the upswing during last year’s playoffs, where he and Daniel Hudson did most of the heavy lifting for the bullpen. He’s on a downswing now, however, stuck with a 5.87 ERA while he hopes to recover from an oblique strain. Doolittle is likely done for the year, though if the Nats can rehash some 2019 magic and erase their five game deficit to make the playoffs, it’s possible Doolittle could return to participate, per Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com (via Twitter).
  • Tanner Rainey has largely stepped into the high-leverage role vacated by Doolittle, but he’ll be taking a couple of days off due to forearm soreness, tweets Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post. An MRI came back negative, so the Nats will give Rainey a couple days off and hope his discomfort dissipates.

Nationals Place Sean Doolittle On Injured List

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Nationals lefty Sean Doolittle has been diagnosed with a right oblique strain, manager Dave Martinez tells reporters (Twitter link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). The exact results of his MRI aren’t yet available, but Martinez described Doolittle’s injury as a “pretty good” strain. Left-hander Ben Braymer is up from the Nats’ alternate site to take his spot on the roster, and the Nats have formally announced that Doolittle is on the 10-day injured list.

It’s a tough blow for the 33-year-old Doolittle, who missed about three weeks in August due to knee troubles. He hadn’t looked right prior to his first IL stint, but Doolittle didn’t allow an earned run in 4 2/3 innings upon activation late last month. His velocity was down early in the year, and while it hadn’t yet returned to its typical levels, Doolittle’s heater had shown some more life this month.

There’s no specific timeline provided for his return, but even low-grade oblique strains can sideline players for around a month at a time. Given that there are only 16 days remaining in the regular season, it’s eminently possible — if not probable — that Doolittle will not return before the 2020 campaign draws to a close. With the Nats all but out of postseason contention and Doolittle slated to become a free agent this winter, one can’t help but wonder whether yesterday’s early departure marked the end of what has been a highly successful tenure in D.C.

Acquired alongside Ryan Madson back in 2017, Doolittle has spent parts of four seasons in the Nationals organization — much of it as the team’s closer. He’s racked up 142 2/3 innings of 3.03 ERA ball with 10.3 K/9 against just 2.1 BB/9 en route to 75 saves during the regular season. Doolittle’s postseason work has been even better, as he’s allowed just two runs on seven hits and a walk with 12 punchouts in 13 1/3 innings across the 2017 and 2019 playoffs. Doolittle tallied three saves and three holds in that time.

The trade cost the Nationals a then-19-year-old Jesus Luzardo, who was recovering from Tommy John surgery at the time. Still, it’s hard to say that it hasn’t worked out for the Nats. Madson was brilliant down the stretch in ’17, and Doolittle has been a mainstay in the bullpen since the time of his acquisition, ultimately closing out Game 1 and Game 6 in last year’s World Series.

Nationals Select Yadiel Hernandez

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The Nationals are selecting the contract of outfielder Yadiel Hernandez after placing veteran Howie Kendrick on the injured list yesterday, manager Dave Martinez announced to reporters today (Twitter link via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post). The team’s recent DFA of Wilmer Difo left them with a vacancy on the 40-man roster.

Whenever Hernandez gets into a game, it’ll mark the MLB debut for the 32-year-old. A high-quality performer for los Cocodrilos de Matnzas in the Cuban National Series from 2009-14, Hernandez defected from Cuba back in 2015 and began the lengthy process of establishing himself as a free agent for Major League clubs. He signed with the Nats for $200K more than a year after leaving Cuba and spent the 2017-19 seasons climbing through their minor league system.

That rise through the Nats’ farm included a monstrous .324/.406/.604 showing in Triple-A last year (139 wRC+), during which Hernandez slugged 33 homers, 22 doubles and a triple while going 7-for-12 in stolen base attempts. We don’t see too many soon-to-be 33-year-old rookies of note, but Hernandez has performed at a high level in Cuba’s top league and throughout three full minor league seasons, so he’ll carry a bit more intrigue than the standard journeyman receiving a September cup of coffee.

Nationals Place Howie Kendrick On 10-Day Injured List

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The Nationals have placed veteran utilityman Howie Kendrick on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain.  The placement is retroactive to September 6.

Given both the calendar and the difficult nature of hamstring injuries, there is certainly a chance that Kendrick could be out of action for the remainder of the 2020 season.  With the Nationals at 16-25, the team could also explore shutting Kendrick down if and when a postseason berth becomes an impossibility.  Washington’s .390 winning percentage sits 13th out of 15 National League teams.

Kendrick missed two weeks of Summer Camp due to a coronavirus quarantine, so between that missed time and a hamstring problem that The Athletic’s Brittany Ghiroli notes has bothered him for much of the season, it isn’t surprising that Kendrick has delivered below-average production (.275/.320/.385) over an even 100 plate appearances.  This is well below the .294/.337/.431 career slash line he carried into 2020, but there is some misfortune baked into Kendrick’s performance this season, as his .358 xwOBA is considerably higher than his .293 wOBA.

With the DH spot open to the National League this season, Kendrick has mostly filled that role for the Nats, only appearing in the field (at first base) for six of his 25 games.  Juan Soto was the designated hitter in last night’s lineup, and since the young slugger is still recovering from an elbow problem, Soto could see the bulk of DH action until he is ready to resume his usual outfield duties.

Since being traded by the Phillies to the Nationals in July 2017, Kendrick has been a very valuable part-timer for Washington, particularly during a big 2019 that saw him star in both the regular season and in the postseason.  Kendrick signed a one-year deal for the 2020 season that carries a $6.5MM mutual option for 2021 (with a $2.25MM buyout), so it remains to be seen if his struggles this year could lead the Nats to part ways with the 37-year-old.

Nationals Place Dakota Bacus On IL, Recall James Bourque

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The Nationals have placed Dakota Bacus on the 10-day disabled list with a right flexor strain. James Bourque has been recalled to take his roster spot, per the team.

Bacus, 29, made his major league debut this season for Washington to meandering results. He’s appeared in 11 games for a 7.94 ERA/5.44 FIP across 11 1/3 innings. Bacus started the year out strong with four scoreless appearances, but he’s been called upon a lot this season, and his last couple of appearances went particularly poorly. Still, outside of a couple of blowups, Bacus did a nice job stepping up when he wasn’t necessarily a Plan A option for manager Dave Martinez coming into the season.

Of course, very little has gone as planned for the Nationals this season, and that includes the bullpen. Sean Doolittle – once a stalwart of the Nats’ pen – has seen his struggles from the tail end of 2019 carry over to this season with a 7.11 ERA. Daniel Hudson has continued to pitch fairly well despite a bloated 7.35 ERA, though he, like Bacus, has been overtaxed. He’s also blown three saves in definitive fashion. On the plus side, Tanner Rainey (2.08 ERA, 17 1/3 innings) brought his triple-digit heat to high-leverage innings and established himself as a setup option for the Nats.

Bottom line: Stephen Strasburg being lost for the season and Joe Ross opting out thinned the Nationals’ pitching corps. Struggles in the rotation from Erick Fedde and Anibal Sanchez spilled over into the bullpen and put a lot of innings on the Nats’ bullpen arms.

They’ll get a fresh one now to help out in Bourque. The 27-year-old has been featured at the tail end of Nationals’ top-30 prospect lists. He’s made two appearances so far this season at the tail end of July, providing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Between Double-A and Triple-A in 2019, Bourque logged 64 innings across 47 appearances with a 4.22 ERA, 12.1 K/9, and 5.1 BB/9.

Quick Hits: Nationals, Blue Jays, Pearson, Red Sox, Eovaldi, Hernandez

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The Washington Nationals have been unable to string together wins so far this season. After losing Anthony Rendon to free agency and Stephen Strasburg to injury, the reigning champs are in a weakened state. Newly-extended GM Mike Rizzo – who accomplished the rare feat of getting ejected from the club box on Sunday – didn’t see enough progress to make a move at the deadline, especially considering their limited scouting capabilities. Rizzo, a former Scouting Director in Arizona, values scouting input more than most of his contemporaries. In his words, per NBC Todd Dybas of NBC Sports, “So, the combination of where we were going into the trade deadline, performing on the field, and the fact I didn’t feel really comfortable about making trades kind of blind where you haven’t seen one of these prospects play in a year or so, impacted us in our decision-making.” Rizzo also didn’t want to give up the possibility of going on a run and getting back into the playoff race, so the Nats stood pat rather than deal upcoming free agents like Asdrubal Cabrera and Adam Eaton. While we’re here, let’s grab some injury updates…

  • Blue Jays’ top prospect Nate Pearson took a big step to returning to the mound yesterday…by returning to the mound. Pearson threw off a mound for the first time since going on the injured list on August 19th with elbow soreness, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). The 6’6″, 250-pound hurler is an intimidating presence on the hill when he’s pumping 96 mph heaters. After a couple of solid starts to begin his major-league career, Pearson struggled over his last two before going on the injured list. He’s currently the owner of a 6.61 ERA/7.62 FIP brought on largely by dodgy command (6.6 BB/9) and 5 home runs surrendered in 16 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays would love to give Pearson an opportunity to right the ship before the season runs out.
  • The Red Sox could get a couple of pitchers back from the injured list soon. Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen session on Sunday and could return as soon as this weekend in Tampa Bay, per The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey. Darwinzon Hernandez also has started throwing. He could be ready for a bullpen session on Tuesday. Hernandez, 23, made three scoreless appearances out of Boston’s bullpen before hitting the injured list with a shoulder strain. The Red Sox have patched together their pitching staff for most of the season. Eovaldi and Hernandez could bolster a staff that’s last in the majors by measure of fWAR (-1.4) – by a fair margin.

Mike Rizzo Discusses Trea Turner, Dave Martinez

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Before the coronavirus put the baseball season on pause this spring, the Nationals and star shortstop Trea Turner engaged in extension talks, general manager Mike Rizzo confirmed to reporters (including Todd Dybas of NBC Sports Washington). Of course, the pandemic introduced plenty of economic uncertainty for all 30 clubs. Nevertheless, Rizzo expressed an interest in revisiting those discussions once he gets an opportunity to examine the organization’s financial “landscape” (via Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post).

The 27-year-old Turner has done nothing to dissuade the front office’s interest in keeping him in the fold long-term. He’s somewhat quietly putting up a fabulous season, hitting .368/.421/.632 with nine home runs and five stolen bases in 171 plate appearances. While he obviously won’t sustain a .393 batting average on balls in play, Turner has seemingly turned a corner offensively. He’s striking out at a career-low 14.6% clip and has hit significantly fewer pop-ups this season. For his career, Turner’s a .297/.354/.479 hitter (118 wRC+) with generally average defense at shortstop, positioning him as a 4-5 win player per 600 plate appearances.

Turner and the Nationals agreed on a $7.45MM salary to avoid arbitration this offseason, his second year of eligibility. The former Super Two player is currently slated to go through the process twice more (and figures to earn a nice raise this winter) before reaching free agency after 2022. His first would-be free agent year would be his age-30 season.

More immediately, Rizzo says he plans to turn his attention to the managerial chair. Skipper Dave Martinez is amidst the final guaranteed season of his three-year contract, although the club does possess an option on his services for 2021. Rizzo made clear today he hopes not to have to exercise that option, instead preferring to hammer out a long-term extension with Martinez (via Jessica Camerato of MLB.com). “That’s the plan going forward,” Rizzo said. “See if we can get something done (and) negotiate a longer-term deal with him that goes beyond just picking up the option.” The GM himself just inked an extension yesterday that’ll keep him in D.C. though 2023.

The Nationals have had something of a rocky history with managers, with the Lerner family ownership group notoriously reluctant to commit to skippers on long-term deals. Martinez, though, is the only manager to have led the franchise to a World Series title, so it’d be a shock to see the parties not eventually come to terms on an extension.

Nationals Recall Carter Kieboom, Designate Wilmer Difo

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The Nationals have designated infielder Wilmer Difo for assignment and called infielder Carter Kieboom back up from their alternate training site, the team announced.  The move reinstalls Kieboom as the Nats’ everyday third baseman, manager Davey Martinez told MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters today.

Kieboom was optioned to the alternate site 10 days ago, making his stay in Fredericksburg a minimal one.  The demotion raised some eyebrows at the time, though Kieboom had only hit .200/.359/.200 through his first 64 plate appearances for Washington this season.  While the club may have been opting to use more experienced players than Kieboom in an attempt to turn the season around, the Nationals’ 2-10 record over their last 12 games has sunk them to last place in the NL East, and they now seem to be looking ahead to 2021.

Despite his lack of production (.535 OPS) over 107 PA at the big league level, the 23-year-old Kieboom is clearly still seen as a big part of the Nationals’ future.  The 28th overall pick of the 2016 draft has posted a .287/.378/.469 slash line and 45 homers over 1462 minor league PA and has little left to prove on the farm, which is why D.C. was hoping Kieboom could slide right into an everyday role this season and at least somewhat fill the void left behind by free agent departure Anthony Rendon.

Since it seems like Kieboom will spend the rest of the season on Washington’s MLB roster, the youngster is still on pace to gain a full year of (prorated) service time, as Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post notes.  Kieboom’s demotion won’t, therefore, give the Nats an extra year of control over Kieboom’s services.

Now in his 11th season in the Nationals organization, Difo has a .247/.309/.348 career slash line over 1060 Major League PA, coming off the bench to play second base, shortstop, third base, and a handful of games in the outfield.  After seeing semi-regular action in both 2017 and 2018, Difo spent much of last season in the minors, and he didn’t appear on the Nats’ postseason roster.  Washington agreed to a $1MM salary for Difo in 2020, which was his first year of arbitration eligibility.

Nationals, GM Mike Rizzo Agree To Three-Year Extension

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The Nationals have agreed to a contract extension with general manager Mike Rizzo, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. He had been working under the final year of his existing contract. Rizzo’s new deal will be for three years, per Rosenthal, keeping him at the helm of the Nats through at least 2023.

Rizzo, 59, took over as the Washington GM in 2009, first in the interim before earning the permanent title. During his 11-plus years as the lead decision-maker, Rizzo’s Nats teams have made five postseason appearances, including last year’s famous run to the World Series. Of course, last year’s success largely erased the Nationals’ reputation as playoff disappointments, which they garnered after four NLDS exits (three of which required a decisive fifth game) in a six-year stretch from 2012-2017. The Nationals have an overall 951-867 (0.523) W-L record during Rizzo’s tenure.

Under his leadership, the Nats have drafted stars like Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and others. They’ve had success in the international amateur market, signing the likes of Juan Soto, Victor Robles, and the emerging Luis Garcia as teenagers.

Furthermore, Washington hasn’t been shy about handing out significant contracts in free agency. The Nats’ starting pitching corps, especially, was built through free agency, with Max Scherzer, Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin earning a combined $595MM in guaranteed contracts from the Nationals on the open market.

Rizzo has been instrumental in guiding the Nationals through tumultuous losing seasons (which allowed the club to acquire talent early in the draft) and elevating the team to contending status, with eight consecutive winning seasons under their belt (though that streak is likely to end this year).

With Rizzo locked up for the foreseeable future, the Nationals will likely turn their attention to another top employee, manager Dave Martinez. Washington holds a $1.2MM club option over Martinez for the 2021 season, which would be Martinez’s fourth as the Nats’ skipper. In fact, the franchise hasn’t had a manager last more than three seasons since Frank Robinson’s five years leading the Expos and Nats.

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