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WILL HARRIS TO 10-DAY IL:
Washington Nationals’ reliever Will Harris went on the 10-Day Injured List with a strained right groin on Friday.
Harris, 35, signed a 3-year/$24M deal with the club this winter and made two appearances before landing on the IL, giving up three hits, two walks, and three runs, two earned, in 1 1⁄3 IP.
“We just want to get him right,” manager Davey Martinez told reporters after Saturday’s off-day workout in Nationals Park. “He tweaked his groin a little bit and I just felt like, we talked, talked to the doctors, training staff, him. Just want to get him right.
“We used a couple days to back date him, so we’ll see. Hopefully we get this issue resolved and he can get back on the mound hopefully by next weekend.”
AND STEPHEN STRASBURG?:
Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his planned outing in the second game of the 2020 campaign last Saturday, with what the 32-year-old starter said was a nerve impingement in his right wrist.
Strasburg received a cortisone shot which apparently helped to ease the nerve issue, and the 2019 World Series MVP has been throwing while building towards a bullpen session.
“He threw a little bit today,” Martinez said on Saturday. “He’s scheduled to throw a bullpen. I don’t know if it’s going to be tomorrow or even possibly Tuesday, so we’ll wait and see.
“He threw the ball again today, he let it eat a little bit, it was nice to see, he said he felt nothing, so he’s right on schedule to come back here real soon.”
WANDERING ABOUT SUERO?:
Davey Martinez told reporters before Thursday’s series finale with the Toronto Blue Jays in the nation’s capital that reliever Wander Suero, placed on the IL, sans explanation, on July 13th, is back at work preparing to return to the bullpen after a long layoff.
“Suero is doing fine, we’ve just got to build him up,” Martinez explained. “Just like all these pitchers, we’re starting to see his velo is kind of down a little bit. So we’ve just go to try to build him up and get him ready. We’ll see.
“He threw the ball well the other day. He was still at 88-89, but threw the ball really well.”
Suero threw in the Nationals’ scrimmage on Saturday afternoon, and Martinez said that the 28-year-old reliever is getting close to a return.
“He’s close,” the manager explained. “He was 90-91 which is encouraging. So, I like what I saw. He’s throwing the ball good.
“Once he’s back on the field facing a different opponent you’ll see that spike up a little bit, his velo. We’re going to try to get him back out, we’ll see how he feels tomorrow, probably Monday, and get him throwing again and then see how he feels then.”
STILL DOOING THE WORK:
Sean Doolittle is still in the process of tweaking his mechanics and looking for some missing velocity as well, not a unique issue among pitchers as baseball’s started up after a long time off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Doolittle has averaged 90.8 MPH on his four-seam fastball early this season, down from 93.5 MPH in 2019.
“His velo is still a little down,” Martinez said after Doolittle threw in the scrimmage, “... but he started elevating his fastball, which is kind of nice.
“When he’s throwing the ball well, he’s got to pitch up in the zone, we walked about that.
“He threw some balls up in the zone, guys mishit him, a bunch of fly balls, so that part is nice, but his velo is still a little down.
“Hopefully as we get this thing going, he pitches more, and more the velo will come back.
HOW ABOUT HOWIE AND THAMES?:
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Trea Turner sat out of Saturday’s scrimmage because, as his manager said, “... he plays every day, every inning. So he just wanted a couple days off, he’ll probably be back out there tomorrow.”
Martinez also provided updates on Howie Kendrick, who was scratched on Wednesday with upper back tightness, and is apparently improving.
“Howie said he felt better today. He’s going to see how he feels tomorrow, he might get a couple at bats, and then we’ll go from there,” Martinez said.
The other first baseman on the roster, Eric Thames, who’s had a few uncomfortable looking trips around the bases early this season, is apparently dealing with a back issue too.
“Thames has a little bit of a back thing going on as well, so he was off today, he got a bunch of treatment, said he felt a little better, so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
You are now updated. Nationals baseball will (maybe) be back on Tuesday...