Washington Nationals news & notes: Davey Martinez on Nats’ bullpen mix; Carl Edwards, Jr.; and Dash Gordon...

Lefties Are Overrated:

Davey Martinez talked before the series opener in Cincinnati about potentially using lefty Evan Lee in relief on his bullpen day between starts, with one lefty, Josh Rogers, in a right-hand heavy relief corps right now.

“We told [Lee] to be ready for the five days,” Martinez explained, essentially green-lighting a second start for the 24-year-old lefty who made his MLB debut in Citi Field.

“We’ll see what transpires in those other days. We also — for me, we’ve got one lefty in the bullpen, and it’s [Lee’s] bullpen day, we might keep him back, and put him in the bullpen for that day.”

“In his bullpen he’ll probably throw 30-35 pitches, so we could use him as just a bullpen day and then do something else, even let him start, so like I said, I have thought about it, I’m not committed to anything yet, so we’ll see what happens.”

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That was on Thursday though. On Friday afternoon, the Nationals placed Rogers on the 15-Day IL with what the club described as an impingement in his left shoulder.

“He went on the IL with a little bit of impingement in his left shoulder,” Martinez said before the 2nd of 4 in Great American Ball Park.

“So we’ll see. He’s gonna get an MRI tomorrow, we’ll see how he’s doing tomorrow. But we brought in [Andres] Machado to fill that void as well.”

Machado, of course, is a righty, so Rogers going on the IL left the Nationals with two lefties in the rotation (Lee and Patrick Corbin) but none in the bullpen, which Martinez said would be fine for now.

“We feel like — I still feel like we got guys that can get lefties out. [Carl Edwards, Jr.] being one of them. [Paolo] Espino has done a great job against lefties as well, so, and then our back end guys who face both left and right. So, I think we’re going to be OK. It’s nice to have. It was really nice to have Rogers that could do multiple things down there, give us length, and also come in against lefties. But hopefully, he’ll be okay, and we get him back as soon as he’s healthy. But those guys are more than capable of getting the job done.”

DASH, AH-AH, NEW-SON-OF-THE-GORDON-FAM:

Dee Strange-Gordon and his wife welcomed a new son into the world on Friday, so he went on the paternity list before the 2nd of 4 with the Reds in GABP, but the best part of the story is that the Gordon’s named the kid Dash. Dash Gordon. Grandpa Tom “Flash” Gordon has to love that.

Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images

“He texted me all these hours of the morning that his wife was having the baby,” Martinez said after the news was announced by the team on Friday afternoon. “And I wanted him to be there. And he left, he had a little boy. His name’s Dash. So congratulations to the family. But we needed to get somebody up here that can do what Dee does, and Foxy [Lucius Fox] is the guy.

“So, hopefully [Fox] should be here shortly to join us, so he can fill in that void till Dee gets back.”

CJ or Carl Edwards, Jr. And The Scoreless Inning Streak:

Carl Edwards, Jr. gave up three runs in an inning of work in his debut with the Nats back on May 10th, after he was called up from Triple-A Rochester, but since then he’s thrown a total of 12 consecutive scoreless innings, giving up two hits and five walks, while striking out 11, and holding opposing hitters to a .057/.175/.086 line against over that dominant stretch the reliever’s manager said he and the Nationals’ brass believed he had in him when they signed the former Cub to a 1-year deal this past winter.

The keys to Edwards, Jr.’s success in this run? Davey Martinez, who was the bench coach in Chicago when Edwards, Jr. came up with the Cubs, said it’s fairly straight-forward.

“Pounding the strike zone,” he told reporters.

“I knew all along if he could stay healthy, and throw strikes, that he could help us, and he’s doing that right now. I’ve had him, like I said, he was with me in Chicago, we knew what he could do if he pounded the strike zone, and his focus right now is throwing strikes, and he’s done a great job. I’ve used him in different situations, but he’s really done a great job for us.”

Seeing the reliever have success after he struggled with injuries and saw minimal action in the big leagues in 2021, has thrilled Martinez.

“Awesome,” he said. “He’s such a great guy, and a great teammate, I’m so happy that he’s having some success, now we just want to keep him there.”

Edwards, Jr. threw another scoreless inning in last night’s win over the Reds in Cincinnati.