The Washington Nationals, after calling up three pitchers from Triple-A Syracuse in three days last weekend, made a flurry of roster moves before Tuesday night’s game in San Francisco.
But none of them involved calling up a pitcher from Syracuse.
The Nationals sent veteran reliever Shawn Kelley to the disabled list and demoted to Triple-A veteran infielder/outfielder Matt Reynolds, who began the year at Syracuse but had just one hit in 12 at-bats for the big-league club.
Kelley gave up a two-run homer on Monday to Mac Williamson of the Giants and then a few pitches later threw a pitch in the dirt. That brought a visit from head athletic trainer Paul Lessard, and Kelley left the game with an elbow injury, according to published reports.
To take the spot of Reynolds and Kelley on the 25-man roster, the Nationals called up infielder Adrian Sanchez and outfielder Rafael Bautista from Syracuse. The Chiefs played a day game Tuesday in Indianapolis and lost 4-0, but neither Sanchez or Bautista saw action.
Bautista was hitting .429 in 10 games with Syracuse and Sanchez, who made his big league debut last season with the Nationals, was batting .286 in 14 games.
“Bautista began the season in Double-A to play every day with (Victor) Robles in center in Syracuse,” Nationals director of player development Mark Scialabba told The Washington Times earlier this month.
But Robles (elbow), a top prospect, was injured diving for a ball on April 9 and Bautista was promoted to Syracuse.
Late Monday, the Nationals traded pitcher A.J. Cole to the New York Yankees for cash considerations after he had been designated for assignment last week. Cole made two starts as the No. 5 man in the rotation.
The Nationals have lost three games in a row entering Tuesday. The rough three-city road trips ends with a day game Wednesday against the Giants.
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