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The Nationals officially put Stephen Strasburg on the disabled list with a strained flexor tendon in his right forearm a couple minutes ago, recalling reliever Collin Balester from Triple-A Syracuse.
Balester, a converted starter, was in the majors for a two-week stint in late July and early August, posting a 5.40 ERA in five appearances that were most noteworthy for the two batters he hit in the head - Rickie Weeks and Mark Reynolds.
I got an email from Balester's father-in-law shortly after the two beanings, and he said Balester knows his arm slot was off when he was pitching up here. He's typically struggled getting his fastball down, and the two incidents left him shaken up. But he'll get a couple more days in the big leagues until Jordan Zimmermann comes up and will likely see some work tonight or tomorrow.
Strasburg's DL placement is retroactive to Aug. 22, so he'd be able to return on Sept. 6. We should hear more on Strasburg's MRI arthrogram in the next couple days, possibly as soon as this afternoon.
UPDATED AT 6:23 P.M.: Strasburg still has not had his MRI arthrogram, though a team spokesman said the Nationals are shooting to have it done on Thursday. But the DL move is the only concrete news of the day on that front.
