DENVER – The Nationals transferred Sean Doolittle to the 60-day injured list this afternoon, revealing the left-hander recently received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow, which will prevent him from throwing for another six weeks. They then used that new opening on the 40-man roster to claim right-hander Cory Abbott from the Giants and immediately option him to Triple-A Rochester.
The move of Doolittle from the 10-day to the 60-day IL ensures he’ll be out until at least late June, but last week’s PRP injection ensured it would probably take that long for him to recover anyway.
“He opted to do that, get it over with, get it done right away,” manager Davey Martinez said before tonight’s game against the Rockies. “Now he’s just going to rehab. He said he feels really good, which is great. We’re just going to rehab him and get him back.”
Doolittle was off to a red-hot start in April after rejoining the Nationals on a one-year, $1.5 million contract this spring. He did not allow a run over his first six relief appearances and only allowed a batter to reach base for the first time in his most recent outing.
But the 35-year-old experienced pain in his elbow during that last appearance and informed club officials. He promptly was placed on the 10-day IL, with hopes he’d be OK to resume throwing after rest and rehab for a couple weeks. All the while, though, he admitted he knew there remained the possibility the sprain was more serious and could require a significant amount of time off or even major surgery.