FREDERICK, Md. — Before Wednesday night, Washington Nationals right-hander Aaron Barrett had not started a game since 2010, when he was a rookie with the short-season Vermont Lake Monsters. As he prepared to pitch the first inning for Single-A Potomac, he tried to keep everything as normal as possible.
Barrett stretched before Wednesday’s game as if he were entering it in relief. He warmed up briskly, mimicking his usual routine. He even asked Potomac manager Tripp Keister to make a fake call to the bullpen.
“I just basically tried to treat it like a relief outing,” Barrett said. “Keep everything the same. Why not?”
In his first minor-league rehabilitation appearance since landing on the disabled list with a right bicep strain, Barrett’s mind game worked like a charm. The 27-year-old reliever pitched a scoreless first inning against the Frederick Keys, striking out two batters and walking one. He and Lucas Giolito carried a combined no-hit bid into the ninth inning before Manny Rodriguez surrendered a one-out single. Potomac won, 4-0.
Barrett threw 16 pitches, including 10 strikes, and his fastball velocity, which had dipped because of injury, was back to normal.
“I felt pretty good,” Barrett said. “Felt like I was able to get the extension I wanted, I was able to get on top of my breaking ball and basically, I felt like I could throw the ball where I wanted to without any pain, which is the most important part. Now it’s just about bouncing back and continuing to progress and keep building my arm strength back. I felt really good.”
Barrett was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 12, one day after walking off the mound in Milwaukee in visible discomfort. He threw 21 pitches that night in what was his fifth appearance in a span of seven games, pushing an arm that was already fatigued past its limits. Manager Matt Williams saw that Barrett was laboring and promptly removed him from the game. Afterward, the manager didn’t specify the nature, or severity, of Barrett’s injury.
On Wednesday, Barrett said he couldn’t feel his arm while throwing his final few pitches that night. It was a scary experience, he admitted, and he’s thankful that the injury wasn’t more severe.
“It was just one of those things where I was trying to grind through it, just trying to work through it, but it’s maybe a blessing in disguise,” Barrett said. “[If] it prevented something serious from happening, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Get a little rest, calm it down and then be fresh to go for the second half.”
Barrett mostly threw fastballs Wednesday night and hovered between 94 and 96 mph. Against his final batter, however, he threw three offspeed pitches in a row, including two excellent sliders.
“I thought his fastball was good. And his slider, he threw some good sliders,” Keister said. “He looked like he was healthy, first of all. The ball was coming out of his hand good. I don’t think his fastball command was where he wanted it to be, but I thought he looked good.”
Williams has not outlined a timetable for Barrett’s recovery, or specified when the right-hander might rejoin the big-league bullpen. Barrett suspects that he still has a few more minor-league outings ahead of him.
“I’ll probably get a couple days off and throw again,” Barrett said. “And then I know they’ll probably want to see me go back-to-back outings, because I do that a lot with the big team. So, it’s just about continuing to progress and build my arm strength and get ready.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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