Despite reports immediately after he left Monday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays that Washington Nationals' righty Michael Soroka was still on track to make his next scheduled start this Sunday, we now know that will not be the case. Soroka left his Nationals debut with what was described as right bicep cramps, but he had been seen later on in the series throwing on the field trying to stretch out that throwing arm.
Everything seemed on track for the righty, but evidently the team is going to give him some extra time off, as they seemingly want to ensure that he not at any abnormal risk of injuring himself. On Friday morning, ahead of the club's opening game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team announced that Soroka has been placed on the 15-day Injured List, and that Jackson Rutledge had been recalled from AAA Rochester.
While I am a bit surprised that Soroka ended up having to go on the IL, I am not surprised that Rutledge was the first name called up to replace him. He likely should have been on the Opening Day roster over Brad Lord, and it will be interesting to see how Davey chooses to fill the void left by Soroka. With both Rutledge and Lord seemingly being transitioned to relievers, one of them will have to make at least 1 if not 2 starts in place of Soroka.
The Brad Lord story of him making the Opening Day roster was great and all, but if we are going purely based on output in spring training and overall fit with the club, his inclusion really made no sense, in my opinion. Rutledge outperformed Lord in the spring, and despite being fully transitioned to a reliever earlier on in camp, the club still chose to go with Lord, who has been a starter for his entire minor league career, to fill the final bullpen spot.
So far, Lord has not been great out of the bullpen, as I can't imagine it's easy to have to learn a new routine from starting every 5th day to being called upon at any given time. If I was Davey Martinez, I would try to start Lord on Monday, to give him an extra day of rest since last week, and start Trevor Williams on Sunday, with a typical 5 days of rest.
This would allow Lord to return to a starter's routine, where I believe he is best suited long-term at this point in time. Rutledge would be able to take over Lord's spot in the bullpen, and Soroka would then take Lord's spot on the big league roster once he's healthy, returning Lord to Rochester. It remains to be seen if this will happen, but that is how I would organize things until the rotation returns to full health.
Do you think Brad Lord or Jackson Rutledge will earn the rotation spot in place of Michael Soroka? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.