Within the last few minutes, the Washington Nationals announced that reliever Todd Coffey had been place on the DL with a left calf strain. To take his place on the roster, the Nationals recalled 24-year-old right-hander Collin Balester from Triple-A Syracuse. According to the Nats' official press release on the move:
"Balester earned the promotion to Washington after working 5.0 scoreless innings of relief for Syracuse this season. In those 3.0 innings, Balester fanned six, walked three and allowed four hits. He worked 2.0 one-hit scoreless innings with three strikeouts in his most-recent appearance, Mon. at Lehigh Valley (Phillies)."
In 17 games and 21.0 IP in 2010, Balester, an '04 4th Round pick by the Montreal Expos, K'd 12.0 per 9.0 IP while walking 4.7 BB/9. In 11 games and 13.1 IP in September, Balester allowed just two runs on six hits while walking seven and striking out 16 batters.