The Washington Nationals made a few expected housekeeping moves on Tuesday to officially finalize an Opening Day roster they foreshadowed with their transactions over the weekend: Daniel Murphy (knee) and Joaquin Benoit (forearm) were placed on the 10-day disabled list while Koda Glover (shoulder) was put on the 60-day disabled list.
Moving Glover to the 60-day DL created the spot on the 40-man roster needed for Miguel Montero, who made the club as the backup catcher over Pedro Severino after signing a minor league deal. It also signifies that Glover isn’t close to a return. Following Washington’s exhibition season finale against the Twins at Nationals Park on Tuesday, Manager Dave Martinez said Glover, who was shut down upon reporting to spring training over a month ago, still hasn’t thrown a baseball and remains in Florida.
“There’s no map,” Martinez said. “He’s progressing, but we want to take it slow. He’s had issues before, so we pretty much told him, ‘Hey, until we feel you’re really ready, we’re going to take it slow with you because we want you to come back and be totally 100 percent.’”
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Without Glover and Benoit in the fold, the Nationals have Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson, Trevor Gott, and Shawn Kelley as right-handed options out of their bullpen. Kelley surrendered his fifth home run in four outings Tuesday — not a promising sign for the reliever with the highest home run rate in baseball last season. Gott later allowed two runs. Both may be relied upon to eat middle innings early in the season while the Nationals — for at least the time being — carry an eight-man bullpen.
“For me, it’s about not beating up the bullpen early,” Martinez said. “If you look at our lineup, there’s not too many guys that I can pitch hit for so having an extra arm in the bullpen made sense to all of us. It’s something we collaborated [on] from top to bottom and I like having the extra arm, especially early in the season. Remember, Opening Day is only one day away so things change throughout the course of a week, two weeks, three weeks, whatever. But for right now, we like the way we constructed our team.”
Having an eight-man bullpen means Washington’s bench is one shorter than usual with four players. That will change when Murphy is activated. The all-star second baseman took batting practice and fielded ground balls on the field before Tuesday’s game. He will stay with the team until he is deemed ready to play in extended spring training games in Florida for his first live action since undergoing microfracture knee surgery in late October.
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“He’s getting there,” Martinez said. “We want to make sure he gets back so that he’s 100 percent and there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. He’s working to get back as soon as possible, and hopefully we get him back soon.”
Howie Kendrick and Wilmer Difo figure to split time at second base until Murphy returns, though all signs point to Kendrick garnering more of the starts. The veteran started at second base and batted clean-up in Tuesday’s exhibition. Martinez, however, warned not to read too much into the lineup, which also had Anthony Rendon batting second and Trea Turner hitting sixth with Ryan Zimmerman out.
“We’re going to do some different things,” said Martinez, who had Bryce Harper lead off and the pitcher bat eighth recently. “That’s all I’m gonna tell you. Based on information and based on how we feel, we’re going to construct lineups accordingly on information.”
What’s certain is Murphy, one of baseball’s best hitters, won’t be in Martinez’s lineup Thursday and for a little longer.
DAYS UNTIL OPENING DAY: 1
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