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Wire Taps: Nationals reinstate Jayson Werth, option Matt den Dekker to Triple-A

Washington Nationals' skipper Matt Williams talked after Sunday's win over the Philadelphia Phillies about the possibility of Jayson Werth rejoining the Nats for the start of the series in Boston. The Nationals made it official this morning. Werth is back!!!

By Patrick Reddington
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

After his first rehab game on Friday night, Jayson Werth sounded like he wanted out of the Potomac Nationals' lineup as soon as possible. "I just really want to get back with my team, my teammates and back in the big leagues," the 35-year-old outfielder told reporters, including MASN's Byron Kerr. "Because it's challenging down here. It's tough, it's tough to see. Surface is tough. It's cold, it's rainy. There's a lot of things going against you."

As Kerr reported Sunday, after Werth hit a home run in Saturday's game, the veteran outfielder told P-Nats announcer Bryan Holland that his surgically-repaired right shoulder (AC joint) felt "pretty good" and he could be done with his rehab soon:

"'I feel pretty good,' Werth said. 'It's been feeling pretty good. So it's coming along and continues to progress. We'll see what everybody wants to do. Hopefully, soon rather than later.'"

By Sunday afternoon, when the Washington Nationals were finished with their three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies, salvaging a win in the series finale, Werth was in the Nats' clubhouse in Citizens Bank Park... and there were disco lights:

Nationals' manager Matt Williams told reporters after the game that Werth would indeed travel with the team, though he stopped short of saying he would be in the lineup for the series-opener with the Red Sox in Fenway Park.

"We'll see how he wakes up tomorrow," Williams said. "Today he's good. So we'll make that determination in the morning."

As the WaPost's Chelsea Jones noted on Twitter, in addition to mentioning the disco lights and the news on Werth's pending return, Williams provided an update on injured, 24-year-old infielder Anthony Rendon as well.

"He’s running, he’s swinging, he’s throwing, he’s taking groundballs," Williams said. "So all of those things are good."

"It’s encouraging to have him on the road to recovery," Williams added, as quoted by Washington Post writer James Wagner.

Werth back today-ish? Rendon on the way? How about Denard Span? While we wait for official word on Werth, how about some links? [ed. note - "We didn't have to wait long."]:

The Nationals made the news on Werth official this morning:

NATS BEAT: Werth stories; Nationals salvage one; + more

WereWerth in Boston?:

• "Washington Manager Matt Williams would not commit to his outfielder playing Monday. Werth played in two straight days of minor league games in Potomac..." - "Jayson Werth rejoins the Nationals, could debut Monday" - Chelsea Janes, The Washington Post

• "Williams has the advantage of being able to use the designated hitter in his lineup in the three-game series in Boston, which should increase the chances of Werth playing." - "Nationals Pastime: Werth rejoins Nats and will travel to Boston, plus positive news on Span and Rendon" - Chris Johnson, MASNSports.com

• "Does it look like Werth will rejoin the Nationals for their series against the Red Sox in Boston on Monday afternoon? 'It's a possibility,' Werth said." - "Werth said Boston series 'a possibility' for return from shoulder surgery" - Byron Kerr, MASNSports.com

• "Outfielder Jayson Werth was set to travel to Boston with the Nationals on Sunday evening and is expected to be activated from the disabled list Monday." - "Werth expected in lineup for Boston opener" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com

Nats vs Phillies + Scherzer and stuff:

• "A broken record would be less frustrating for Nationals fans to listen to right now than a recap of a ballgame played in the last week." - "Nats 4, Phillies 3 (10): Wild pitch salvages the weekend" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "Through six games this season, albeit a small sample, the Nationals’ starting rotation has been as strong as expected." - "Nationals squander another lead late but rally in 10th to beat Phillies" - James Wagner, The Washington Post

• "Nationals manager Matt Williams has witnessed Scherzer's spring dominance spill over into the regular season, in which he's allowed just one earned run in 16 2/3 innings for a 0.66 ERA." - "Nationals Pastime: Scherzer 'as advertised' in second dominant start" - Chris Johnson, MASNSports.com

• "Scherzer said his fastball command was inconsistent, but he was able to throw his cutter, slider, curveball and changeup the way he wanted." - "Scherzer sharp, turns to cutter for big strikeouts" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com

• "Scherzer made his second start as a member of the Nationals, and he was outstanding across six innings, allowing one run on six hits and striking out eight." - "Nats escape with wild win in 10 innings" - Bill Ladson and Todd Zolecki, nationals.com

Nats vs Sox:

• "For the Nationals to take 2 of 3 in their upcoming series at Fenway Park, they’ll need to clean up their most glaring issues from the season’s first week: Hitting in key spots and pitching effectively in the late innings." - "Ugly win, but better days are ahead for Nats" - Mark Zuckerman, Nats Insider

• "The last time the Nationals played the Red Sox was in June 2012, with Washington sweeping the three-game series." - "Washington Nationals at Boston Red Sox - April 13, 2015" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com Preview

Individual Nationals:

• "Taylor does everything quietly, but he has been at the center of things for the Nationals all season." - "Michael A. Taylor off to strong start, quietly" - Chelsea Janes, The Washington Post

• "'I tried to be smart, tried to be safe, because I know I have a good hitter right behind me,' Escobar said." - "Escobar's steady bat ignites 10th-inning rally" - Bill Ladson, nationals.com

NATS MINORS:

• Low-A Hagerstown: "The Hagerstown Suns (1-3) followed their opening night loss to the Hickory Crawdads (3-1) by dropping two of the final three games of the four-game series." - "Suns drop first series of the season to Hickory" - Eli Pearlstein, Hagerstown Suns News

• High-A Potomac: "LF Isaac Ballou got it started for the P-Nats in the bottom of the first when he connected for a long home run off Brown that gave Potomac an early 1-0 lead." - "P-Nats Blank Lynchburg to Earn Series Split" - Potomac Nationals News

• Double-A Harrisburg: "Tony Renda continued his hot start by going 2-for-5 with two singles and a run scored. He crossed home on a Kevin Keyes RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning." - "Harrisburg edged by Altoona in series finale" - Perry Mattern, Harrisburg Senators News

• Triple-A Syracuse: "The Syracuse Chiefs, Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, dropped the series finale to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, 3-1, Sunday afternoon at PNC Field." - "Syracuse Chiefs lose to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Caleb Ramsey, Scott McGregor" - Syracuse Chiefs News

NATIONAL(S) BEAT: Souza's catch; Goodbye, Philly

• "Here in the universe of the new Phillies normal, the first six games of the season at Citizens Bank Park were more than acceptable." - "For Phillies, .500 homestand isn't so bad" - Bob Brookover, Philadelphia Inquirer

• "For the first time since Jordan Zimmermann held the Marlins hitless in the 2014 season finale, Miami left fielder Christian Yelich was able to chat with Steven Souza Jr..." - "Souza, Yelich share laugh over no-hitter-saving catch" - Bill Chastain and Joe Frisaro, marlins.com

• "At Scherzer’s introductory press conference, Rizzo puffed out his chest and said, 'We’ll stack our rotation up with anybody’s in our division, our league and maybe in baseball' — a confident stance..." - "Red Sox' offense set to clash with Nationals' power arms" - Scott Lauber, Boston Herald

• "In a nice heads-up play by reliever Luis Garcia, the Phillies succeeded in picking off Michael Taylor when he attempted to steal second after drawing a walk in the top of the seventh." - "Phillies can't complete sweep with 4-3 loss to Washington Nationals" - Maria Guardado, Rapid reaction | NJ.com

• "Rick Porcello is slated to pitch in front of the home fans for the first time since joining the club in an offseason deal with the Tigers for Yoenis Cespedes." - "Washington Nationals at Boston Red Sox - April 13, 2015" - Bill Ladson, MLB.com Preview

• "Leon had been in the Nationals organization since 2012, and as such he's gained a fair amount of familiarity with the three Washington pitchers the Red Sox will see at Fenway: Jordan Zimmermann, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez." - "Former National Sandy Leon has some inside info on Washington starters" - Tim Britton, providencejournal.com

• "Left-hander Ross Detwiler’s goal, beginning with a start against the Angels on Monday night is to follow the example of Doug Fister." - "Rangers’ Ross Detwiler hopes to follow Nationals’ Doug Fister’s lead after rough start" - Gerry Fraley, Dallas Morning News

• "With all of the talk about the Washington Nationals starting rotation, it seems we just assumed their offense would hit the ground running as well this season." - "Key reversal, Nelson Cruz home run help Mariners top A's" - Mark Townsend, Big League Stew - Yahoo Sports

• "The Washington Nationals are hosting a College Rivalry Day for UVa and Virginia Tech fans this summer. Break out your old college sweatshirt and get in on the good ol' baseball fun on June 24." - "DC College News: Education News You Missed Out on This Week" - Molly Greenberg, DC Inno

• "Both teams called his bluff and have kept fighting, and it’s particularly onerous for the Nationals, whose success would warrant an open-market deal a lot closer to what they asked than what Baltimore wanted." - "10 Degrees: The ugliness of the Dodgers' TV mess" - Jeff Passan, Yahoo Sports

NL EAST UPDATES: deGrom + Bad news on Alvarez + Woodsy

• Mets: "Rewind to Monday morning, and the hours before Opening Day in Washington. After four years of rebuilding, the curtain was about to rise on the first big league games of the Sandy Alderson era that mattered." - "Do you realize how loaded a week this was for Mets?" - Andy Martino, NY Daily News

• "The people’s choice, Harvey, is scheduled to pitch Tuesday night against the Phillies, giving the Mets the feel of a second home opener." - "Spotlight of home opener deGrom’s reward for ROY season" - Mike Puma, New York Post

• Marlins: "Henderson Alvarez, an All-Star in 2014 and the Marlins' Opening Day starter, felt discomfort in his throwing arm on Sunday and will undergo an MRI on Monday." - "Alvarez headed for MRI on elbow, shoulder" - Joe Frisaro, marlins.com

• Braves: "Instead of criticizing plate umpire Marvin Hudson for his call on a 1-2 pitch to Michael Cuddyer in the first inning, Wood was more critical of what transpired later during that same plate appearance..." - "Wood disappointed by mistakes against Mets" - Mark Bowman, braves.com

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