Aaron Barrett has already staged his own personal, tear-jerking comeback.
Now the veteran pitcher hopes to be part of another one with the Nationals - who have a key series this weekend at the first-place Braves, the team they are chasing in the National League East.
The series takes on special meaning for Barrett, 31, who has lived in the Atlanta area the past few winters. His family now includes his wife Kendyl and young daughter.
“It is going to be special,” Barrett told The Washington Times.
Barrett pitched 90 games out of the bullpen for Washington from 2014-15. However, arm and shoulder injuries kept him on the sidelines in 2016-17 before he returned to the minors last year.
He was called up to Washington on Tuesday, exactly four years after his first Tommy John surgery.
He spent all season with Double-A Harrisburg and led the Eastern League in saves.
“I try to picture back when I first got called up in ’14, making the team out of camp, kind of what that experience was compared to this,” Barrett said. “I honestly think this one might be better than the first one.”
“His patience and (Christian) faith are two things that stood out,” Nationals assistant general manager and vice president, player personnel Doug Harris said Thursday. “He never lost faith in his belief that he would get back to the big leagues.”
Now Barrett is part of another pennant race, just like he was in 2014 when the Nationals won the National League East. He warmed up Wednesday, but didn’t get into the game as the Nationals lost 8-4 at home to the Mets.
Washington holds the top spot in the wild-card race, but still has a shot - albeit a long one - at catching the Braves.
“Now we get to play them head to head,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said.
The four-game series began Thursday night.
The scheduled starters for the Nationals the rest of the series are Patrick Corbin (11-6, 3.19) on Friday, Joe Ross (3-4, 6.17) on Saturday and Max Scherzer (9- 5, 2.60) on Sunday.
The Braves will counter with Dallas Keuchel (6-5, 3.72), Julio Teheran (9-8, 3.38) and Mike Soroka (11-3, 2.53).
Nationals reliever Javy Guerra has played a key role as the long man out of the bullpen in recent weeks.
He remembers his first pennant race in 2011 when he was a rookie with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It is going to be fun. You want to face the number one team,” Guerra said. “We have to do our job. You take Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3 and let work out. You don’t want to start over-thinking. If we can control what we can, we will be OK.”
Going into the first game Thursday, the teams split the first 12 games this year and Atlanta (86-54) was seven game up on the Nationals (78-60.
Nationals righty Austin Voth has made four starts this season.
He has faced the Braves two times in his career, with his only start against them at home on June 23 when he allowed just two earned runs in six innings but did not figure in the decision.
“It is going to be tough. We definitely have to come out and play our best ball and take it day-by-day,” he said.
“Each game is an opportunity for us to climb back and get on top. I like the way we are playing.”
Voth has been impressed with the Braves lineup, which had a team batting average of .260 before Thursday and that was good for second in the National League. Atlanta had eight players with at least 10 homers and three with at least 34: Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuna, Jr. and Josh Donaldson.
“From the top of the lineup to the bottom of the lineup, there is a dangerous hitter at every spot,” Voth said.
“Going through that lineup is very tough. You want to limit them as many times, as a starter at least, as you can. They have some guys with a lot of power. They have some guys with some speed. They are dangerous on all fronts.”
“It’s going to be a challenge,” Harris said of upcoming schedule for Nationals, who begin a series at first-place Minnesota on Tuesday. “These guys have been pushing every day. They stay in the fight.”
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