Martinez on decision to DFA Barnes, stick with Rainey

The Nationals made an expected roster move in the bullpen this morning, returning left-hander Robert Garcia from his rehab assignment and reinstating him from the injured list after a bout with influenza.

Garcia, 27, returns after missing 14 games. In one rehab appearance with Single-A Fredericksburg over the weekend, he struck out four without allowing a baserunner in two innings. Before landing on the IL, Garcia was tied for ninth among National League relievers with 13 strikeouts, achieving that mark in just 8 ⅓ innings. He also stranded all five runners he inherited this season.

He has been the only left-handed reliever manager Davey Martinez has used this season, having allowed just three extra base hits to lefty hitters in 68 career plate appearances.

The surprising part of the move was the decision to designate Matt Barnes for assignment to clear a spot on both the active and 40-man rosters.

“We needed to get Robert back. It was tough, but we definitely need a lefty,” Martinez said ahead of the Beltway Series opener against the Orioles. “I'd like to have more than one, but one right now will be good enough. But it was a tough call. Matty was such a professional. He's done it for a long time now. His velo just wasn't coming back like we thought it would. So we had to make a tough decision. I wished him all the best. We'll see where he ends up.”

Signed to a minor league deal in spring training, Barnes, 33, had a 6.75 ERA with 10 strikeouts and four walks in 13 ⅓ innings over 14 games. For most of his 11-year career, his fastball averaged 95-97 mph. That velocity was down to 91 mph this year.

However, Barnes has not been the least effective reliever in the Nats bullpen to start the year. That title falls onto Tanner Rainey, who has a 9.00 ERA and 2.667 WHIP in 12 games while continuing his long road back from his August 2022 Tommy John surgery.

Rainey is out of options, though, meaning the Nats would have to expose him to waivers before sending him down to the minors.

Now entering the season’s second month, what is the Nats’ plan for getting Rainey back on track and using him more in high-leverage situations?

“Over the course of a year, things always change, right?” Martinez said. “You never know what's gonna happen. Right now, the way our bullpen is set up, it's been pretty good, with (Kyle) Finnegan, (Hunter) Harvey, (Dylan) Floro, (Derek) Law all pitching in high-leverage situations. Even Jacob Barnes at times. In the fifth and sixth innings sometimes, that's high-leverage for us at the moment.

“So we just got to continue to work with Rainey. Working ahead, like I said, working on using his lower half a little bit better. Hopefully the velo starts coming back. At times, we see it at 93 and 95 mph. We just need some more consistency out of him. So we're going to keep working with him. We think he can still help us. I'm going to put him in situations where, hopefully, he succeeds for now until something else happens.”

Rainey’s fastball averaged 97 mph before his injury. He even averaged 96 mph in his one inning in the majors at the end of last year. But so far this year, it’s only averaging 93 mph, leading him to be used only in blowouts.

The Nationals aren’t giving up on Rainey yet. They are still holding out hope his velocity eventually comes back. But in the meantime, pitching coach Jim Hickey is working with the 31-year-old on finding different ways to get into the strike zone, starting with using his slider more.

“Like I said, we're working on that,” Martinez said. “A lot of his issues really are the disconnection between his lower half and his arm catching up. We're really trying to work on that. And it's hard to work on during the season, really, because you got to use him, right? So as much as we try to get him to throw a little bit extra in between, he's got to be ready to pitch that day. But there are some things he's cleaning up.

“I know Hickey has been working with him a lot. We've talked to him a lot about the use of his slider maybe a little bit more. Not trying to spike, but more throwing it over the plate. Stuff like that. The biggest thing for him, really, right now is he's got to find another way to attack the zone. When you're throwing 98-99 miles an hour, you can miss in the middle of the plate. When you're throwing 91-93, you can't miss over the plate. You're gonna get hit. So he's starting to understand that.”

* Martinez provided updates on some other injured Nationals this afternoon:

Jose A. Ferrer (left lat strain) threw from 75 feet on Sunday, and with more velocity.

Joey Gallo (left shoulder AC sprain) has been playing in Fredericksburg, hitting a home run over the weekend, and moved to Triple-A Rochester today.

Josiah Gray (right elbow/forearm flexor strain) threw another bullpen session today, continuing to work on his fastball and throwing 30-35 pitches.

Lane Thomas (left MCL sprain) hit off the tee the other day, did some tosses and hit during live batting practice today, with some good swings in the mix.

Luis García Jr., who hurt his wrist Sunday, feels fine and is in the starting lineup today.