Nationals Place Red-Hot Reliever On Injured List

The Washington Nationals have made some roster moves, having to place high-leverage reliever Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left elbow. It comes at an unfortunate time, as he was off to a strong start to the 2022 season, allowing just one baserunner over 5.1 shutout innings, while striking out six. 

Sean Doolittle says his elbow felt a little sore in Pittsburgh, but nothing alarming. Was much worse yesterday, and velocity was down a couple mph. Got an MRI and got results last night. For now, the plan is rehab and reevaluate in 10 days or so. That will determine next step.

— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) April 20, 2022

As noted by Nationals beat writer Mark Zuckerman, Doolittle first noticed some soreness in the elbow last week, but he shrugged it off thinking he could pitch through it. It came to a head yesterday, when the pain got worse and his velocity dropped a couple of ticks. An MRI revealed the sprain. 

The 35-year-old left-hander will rehab and then re-evaluate in ten days.

Roster moves:

-Recalled LHP Sam Clay and LHP Francisco Pérez from Triple-A Rochester
-Placed LHP Sean Doolittle on 10-day IL with left elbow sprain
-Optioned OF Donovan Casey to Triple-A Rochester pic.twitter.com/QBporNHaQv

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) April 20, 2022

Doolittle has been doing so well, in fact, that it appears that it takes two lefties to replace him, as the Nats have called up Sam Clay and Francisco Perez from Triple-A. Combined, those two have tossed 10.2 scoreless innings at Rochester. 

The Nationals also optioned outfielder Donovan Casey. 

Photo Credit: Scott Taetsch-USA TODAY Sports