Nationals left-hander DJ Herz suffered a setback in his recovery from last year’s Tommy John procedure. Skipper Blake Butera told reporters (including Byron Kerr of MLB.com) that the southpaw has been pulled off his rehab assignment after suffering a flexor muscle strain.
The silver lining is that the current issue is muscular rather than renewed ligament damage. That makes it unlikely he’ll need surgery or have anywhere near the same layoff as he did coming back from the UCL injury. It’s nevertheless a frustrating setback that leaves Herz without a clear timeline for return.
Herz is already on the 60-day injured list, so this won’t have any immediate roster implications. He’d begun a rehab assignment at the beginning of June and might’ve been back around the All-Star Break if that buildup had gone smoothly. He’ll clearly be out into the season’s second half at this point, though the Nationals haven’t specified when they expect him back.
A Cubs draftee, Herz was in Double-A when the Nats acquired him as part of the 2023 Jeimer Candelario deadline trade. He debuted the following season and had some of the best swing-and-miss stuff on the staff as a rookie. Herz struck out almost 28% of opponents while working to a 4.16 earned run average over his first 18 MLB starts.
Washington enters play today with a 41-38 record that has them percentage points behind the Padres and Cubs for the NL’s last Wild Card spot. It’s a surprising spot for a team that seemed likelier to be among the bottom five in MLB than to make the playoffs. They’re nearing the halfway point as the league’s highest-scoring offense, at least partially covering for a pitching staff that has allowed the fourth-most runs in the league.
Cade Cavalli and free agent pickup Foster Griffin have been the team’s only reliable starters. Lefty Andrew Alvarez has gotten decent results since drawing into the starting five at the beginning of June, but the Nats have yet to let him go beyond four innings. Zack Littell, Miles Mikolas and the currently injured Jake Irvin have all been ineffective.
There’s a path for Herz to factor into that mix if he’s fully healthy. Even if this setback limits his time to build up as a starter, he could aid a bullpen that is also among the worst in the Majors. Nationals relievers are 24th in ERA and last in strikeout rate. The latter number is skewed to an extent by them pitching Mikolas behind an opener almost every time, but Clayton Beeter is their only reliever with an above-average strikeout rate. Journeyman Richard Lovelady is their top lefty bullpen arm.
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