Washington Nationals place Brian Goodwin on 10-Day DL; Alejandro De Aza up from Triple-A

Washington Post writer Chelsea Janes was first with the report this morning that the Washington Nationals were placing Brian Goodwin on the 10-Day DL after the 26-year-old outfielder tweaked his groin in Sunday afternoon’s game again the San Francisco Giants.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Nationals’ skipper Dusty Baker said no decisions were made on Goodwin, who’d been filling in after a number of the Nationals’ outfielders went down with injuries.

“It’s only been one day,” Baker explained, “... so I haven’t talked to my trainer about it but I know he can’t — unless he’s found some miracle drug it’s probably the same cause he’s not dressed today, so I haven’t had an opportunity to really talk to him.”

At that point, Baker said, they were hoping Goodwin could avoid a DL stint.

“I mean you’ve got to wait a couple days to see the severity of it, and see if there’s any — how much swelling is in there, and so — you guys really like asking about that DL, and I’m trying to avoid that DL for my guys. We’ve used that DL a lot, so I’m hoping not.”

Unfortunately for Goodwin, who’d been playing regularly since Michael A. Taylor had an oblique issue land him on the DL in early July, he could not avoid a trip to the Disabled List.

In 31 games and 143 plate appearances since Taylor went down, the 2010 Nationals’ 1st Round pick put up a .242/.294/.492 line with 12 doubles and seven home runs over that stretch, and he’d come on strong as of late, with nine of Goodwin’s 12 doubles, and five of seven HRs since early July coming in his last 20 games, over which he’d posted a .293/.337/.585 line.

Taking Goodwin’s spot on the major league roster is 33-year-old veteran outfielder Alejandro De Aza, who signed a free agent deal with the Nationals in mid-June.

De Aza posted a .280/.368/.403 line with 11 doubles and four home runs in 52 games and 212 PAs for Triple-A Syracuse before he was called back up to the majors.