Nationals Purchase Corey Brown’s Contract, Place Chad Tracy on DL

Midday Monday, before Washington lost the opener of a three game series against the Marlins, the Nationals made a pair of roster moves to shore up the 25-man roster, purchasing the contract of outfielder Corey Brown from Triple-A Syracuse and placing infielder Chad Tracy on the 15-day DL.

Brown will provide Washington some added depth across the outfield, though his natural position is center field, and should see a fair number of at bats off the bench considering how frequently Tracy played that role. In 218 plate appearances over 48 games with Syracuse he was batting .297/.399/.584 with 12 HR and 30 RBI. He’s also been showing much more patience at the plate than in the past, having earned 31 walks already on the year versus 47 all of last season (his first with Syracuse).

Brown pinch hit in today’s game at Miami, flying out to center in the 9th inning, but has otherwise minimal MLB experience. He was 0 for 3 last September before being shut down with a knee infection. Our own Stephen Walker profiled Brown’s situation down in the minors just a few weeks ago, concluding that barring injury we likely wouldn’t see much of him until September rolls around.

Making room on the 25-man roster, Tracy was placed on the DL due to a strained groin suffered during Sunday’s game at Atlanta. He had surgery during the offseason for a hernia, prompting the team to send Tracy to visit the doctor who performed the initial procedure to ensure that no additional damage has been done. Tracy has been a nice surprise coming off the bench for the Nationals this year, batting .265/.327/.510 with 3 HR and 12 RBI in 55 plate appearances. He is 6 for 18 as a pinch hitter, with a Major League leading 9 RBI.