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WASHINGTON – Veteran reliever Will Harris has been going back and forth between Florida and the nation’s capital.
When the Nationals are on the road, Harris has been spending time in West Palm Beach.
With Washington back at home Tuesday to begin a three-game series with the Mets, right-hander Harris was in the clubhouse before the game.
In the last of a three-year deal with Washington, the former LSU standout is on the 60-Day Injured List after he dealt with thoracic outlet syndrome last year and then had a procedure earlier this year to follow up on his 2021 setback.
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Harris was in the clubhouse Tuesday as was veteran pitcher Aníbal Sánchez, who is also on the 60-day Injured List.
Both pitchers are throwing off flat ground, manager Dave Martinez told reporters before the homestand began. There is no word of when Harris may pitch for the Nats.
“They’re here, and they’re just working. Will [Harris] ... he’s starting to throw, Aníbal is doing a lot better, he feels a lot better,” Martinez explained.
“He played catch the other day, so he’s going to build himself up.”
Harris arrived in Staunton, Virginia to play in the Valley Baseball League as a third baseman and pitcher in 2003.
“Great summer, back when I could still hit,” Louisiana native Harris said in an interview in 2020. “We had some really good guys. We had some big leaguers on our team.”
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“We used him mainly in a middle relief, closer role,” recalls Lawrence Nesselrodt, the Braves’ manager that summer of 2003.
“The biggest characteristic we saw in him was a passion and love for the game.”
Three years later, Harris was drafted out of LSU by the Rockies as a pitcher.
The right-hander made his Major League League debut in 2012 and was part of the World Series champions with Houston.
Harris pitched against the Nationals in the World Series in 2019.
“He is an extremely hard-working man,” former Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart wrote about Harris. “Tremendous individual.”
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