CINCINNATI – Josh Bell is out of the Nationals lineup tonight after tweaking his right groin muscle running out a ground ball during Friday night’s loss to the Reds.
Bell said he hurt himself trying to beat out a seventh-inning grounder to the right side of the infield, walking gingerly back to the dugout after making the out. Davey Martinez sent Amed Rosario out to pinch-hit for him in the top of the ninth.
Though Bell said feels OK today, Martinez decided not to take a chance on a rainy night at Great American Ball Park.
“He’s better, but he’s a little sore,” the manager said. “So we’ll give him another day. And the weather, not wanting him to go out there in the wet, we’ll keep him down. He’s going to try to hit later, and hopefully he’s available to pinch-hit.”
Bell produced the Nationals’ lone run in their 6-1 loss, connecting for a solo homer in the fifth inning off Cincinnati ace Hunter Greene. The 32-year-old continues to endure through a rough start to his season, owner of a mere .528 OPS despite five home runs.
Bell said he got treatment on the groin this afternoon and doesn’t believe he’ll be out for any length of time.
“I feel a little bit better than yesterday. Should be available off the bench tonight,” he said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me to feel 100 percent, but us baseball players don’t really play at 100 percent very often. I should be ready to go fairly soon.”
With Bell sitting, James Wood is serving as DH tonight, opening left field for Alex Call to make his first start since Monday.
Call has quietly been one of the team’s most productive offensive players, with an .852 OPS over 69 plate appearances. Martinez had been finding ways to get him into the lineup, at the expense of either Jacob Young or Dylan Crews, but backed off starting him this week after Call banged up his knee sliding into second base Monday against the Mets.
* The Nationals haven’t decided yet how they intend to proceed with Michael Soroka, but there doesn’t appear to be any reason to have the right-hander make another rehab start after a dominant performance Friday night.
Pitching for Triple-A Rochester, Soroka struck out 11 batters over five innings of one-run ball, totaling 94 pitches. That was his third minor league rehab start following a monthlong stay on the 15-day injured list with a right biceps strain suffered in his March 31 season debut.
Martinez said Soroka will rejoin the team in D.C. on Monday and throw a bullpen session, after which the team will decide its next step. If Soroka, who signed this winter for $9 million, is activated and reinserted into the rotation, the Nats will have to choose who loses his starting job: Brad Lord, Trevor Williams or Mitchell Parker.
* Derek Law played catch Friday, the first time the veteran reliever had done that in weeks.
Law, who has been on the 15-day IL since Opening Day with forearm inflammation, needed far more time than anticipated to let his arm calm down, receiving a cortisone shot along the way to alleviate nerve pain. He feels like he’s healthy now, but the process to come back will be methodical, as if he was starting over spring training again. He won’t truly know how his arm is until he’s cleared to throw off a mound, which could be several weeks away.
* Travis Sykora, the organization’s No. 1 pitching prospect, made his delayed season debut today in West Palm Beach, Fla., and dominated the Astros’ rookie Gulf Complex League lineup.
Sykora, who had hip surgery over the winter, struck out six over two innings, allowing one run on one hit and one walk. The 21-year-old was a third-round pick in the 2023 Draft and impressed in his first professional season, going 5-3 with a 2.33 ERA, 0.906 WHIP and 129 strikeouts in only 85 innings for low Single-A Fredericksburg.