Martinez on Rainey, Fedde and GarcÃa
By Pete Kerzel
Right-hander Tanner Rainey, on the COVID-19 injured list since May 19, could be on the verge of rejoining the Nationals after throwing an extended bullpen session Tuesday, manager Davey Martinez said this afternoon.
"He threw 32 pitches yesterday," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with the media. "I want to talk to him today and see how he feels after a long bullpen. If he feels good, he hasn't missed that much time. There's been times where guys in the bullpen, especially the back end, where they don't pitch for six or seven days, you know?
"I'll talk to him today and if he feels good today, we possibly could activate him tomorrow, you know? But I want to have that conversation with him."
Rainey struggled out of the gate, giving up two runs in three of his first six appearances this season for a 10.13 ERA. But in his 10 appearances since April 21, he's yielded just five runs, and four of those came in one outing, a disastrous 2/3 of an inning at home against the Braves on May 4.
Righty Erick Fedde, who went on the IL at the same time as Rainey, remains under COVID-19 quarantine, which has limited what he can do physically. Meanwhile, the Nationals are awaiting guidance from Major League Baseball and the Centers for Disease Control as to the next steps with Fedde.
"He's working out as much as he can, but he's in quarantine, so he can't do anything until we hear back from MLB or CDC to see what they're allowing him to do to get back on the field and work out," Martinez said. "We'll see. Hopefully, in the next few days, we'll know something, but as of right now, we can't do anything about it."
Fedde has been limited to towel drills to keep his mechanics in tune and lifting weights to keep his strength up.
"When you're in quarantine, you're limited what you can do," Martinez said. "I think it's been ... eight days or nine days. something like that, so hopefully he hasn't missed much. As soon as we can get him back, we'll see."
While Rainey and Fedde work their way through COVID protocols, infielder Luis GarcÃa has yet to play since being recalled yesterday to fill the 26-man roster spot that opened up when center fielder Victor Robles went on the injured list.
Robles' injury and the fact that the Nats didn't replace him with another outfielder shows a lack of organizational depth at the position in the high minors. The Nats could have summoned Gerardo Parra from Triple-A Rochester, but that would have required a move to get him on the 40-man roster. With Andrew Stevenson handling center field for the time being, and Josh Harrison capable of playing center, the Nats thought it better to add GarcÃa as an extra left-handed bat.
Martinez said he is still searching for a good spot to play GarcÃa.
"Right now, Josh Harrison's playing well (at second base) and I want to continue to play him," Martinez said. "... Stevenson's swung the bat well as of late, against right-handed pitching right now, we're doing OK. We'll see when I can get (GarcÃa) in. Yesterday, he was available to pinch-hit, go in and play defense. We had options to do things if we were to tie the game. He understands the situation right now and his role right now. Like I said, I'd like to get him in. I'll get him in today or tomorrow. We'll see how things play out."
This is GarcÃa's second stint on the major league club this season. He made the opening day roster after the COVID-19 outbreak and went 1-for-7 in six games, two of them starts. Garcia was slashing .235/.293/.426 with four homers and seven RBIs in 17 games with Rochester.
