Hellickson making progress with shoulder pain

WASHINGTON -- Jeremy Hellickson’s received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in his right shoulder on Thursday, which helped alleviate some of the shoulder pain that he has been battling since the start of the year. He is still shut down from baseball activity, but felt much better prior to Saturday’s 10-3 loss to Arizona. If Hellickson continues to improve, he could resume playing catch on Monday.

Hellickson, who has been on the injured list with a right shoulder strain since May 21, initially felt the discomfort in his shoulder during Spring Training, but began the season pitching through the injury. After starting in the bullpen the first two weeks of the year and making only one appearance, Hellickson threw 100 pitches in his first start, six shutout innings in a 15-1 victory on April 10 against the Phillies.

“That next day, it was just like a different pain that I felt than a normal day after,” Hellickson said.

The injury ended up being a lot worse than Hellickson initially expected, considering he was playing long toss in the outfield at Citi Field the day he was placed on the IL. He believed he would be able to play catch and remain in a routine while on the IL, but eventually the Nats shut him down. He went for an MRI, the results of which have not yet been revealed by the Nationals, but he is officially on the IL with a shoulder strain.

Hellickson had never dealt with shoulder injuries in his career, so at first he tried to push through the soreness. He received a cortisone shot earlier in the season and continued to take the ball every fifth day, which he credited to the rush of adrenaline.

“It was just those four days in between I couldn’t really do anything,” he said. “I could barely lift [my arm] the day after I pitched.”

Eventually, Hellickson believes the injury began affecting his performance. He could not control his two-seamer and never got his arm slot consistent. His average curveball velocity was just 73.8 mph, a few ticks down from the 76.6 mph he averaged on that pitch in both 2018 and ’17. In the seven starts following that opening outing in Philadelphia, Hellickson posted a 7.26 ERA and opponents owned a .955 OPS against him.

“It was just something that I felt like I just keep going and it would eventually get better,” Hellickson said. “That usually happens when you think you’re sore. It was just too much. I couldn’t do it for four more months. So, the best thing was just to take some time and get it looked at.”

Barraclough struggles again

Nationals manager Dave Martinez and reliever Kyle Barraclough both insisted the struggling reliever is healthy, even after his latest poor outing in the eighth inning of Saturday’s loss.

Even as the Nats bullpen as a whole has been improved as of late, Barraclough’s issues have persisted. He recorded just one out and gave up three runs on three hits -- including a two-run homer to Kevin Cron -- and a walk in the eighth. After the game, Martinez mentioned that Barraclough’s velocity was down, perhaps a precursor to an injury even though he has told his manager he feels healthy.

But Barraclough is searching for answers as he continues to struggle. He has given up 16 earned runs on 18 hits in his last 13 appearances, and his ERA on the season has ballooned to 6.39 ERA.

“Right now I’ve been working on my breaking ball and getting a feel for that,” Barraclough said. “I don’t know if that’s affected the velocity or whatnot. Some of it’s getting with [pitching coach Paul Menhart] mechanically and throwing program. A lot of things we need to work on, obviously.

“I felt like I was taking a couple good steps in the right direction those last two outings, and felt like the ball was coming out well. Today didn’t feel great. I think that’s just something we have to work on as the season goes on.”

It does appear a roster move is coming for the Nationals, however, although the team gave no indication about a corresponding move. Infielder Adrían Sanchez was removed from the eighth inning of Saturday’s game at Double-A Harrisburg and a reporter there spotted him saying goodbye to his teammates in the clubhouse after the game. Washington has been playing with an extra arm in the bullpen for an extended period of time, so perhaps they are ready to make a move to go back to a five-man bench.

That could make Barraclough, acquired in the offseason from the Marlins and considered to be an essential bullpen piece, an obvious potential choice to be optioned to the Minors if he is not placed on the injured list.

“His velo is a little down and his secondary pitches are just not good right now,” Martinez said. “His slider, he can't even throw it over for strikes. But his velo is down to 92-93 [mph], but for a while there he was throwing a pretty good changeup. Couldn't throw that today neither.”

Adams avoids IL -- and then homers

Turns out it wasn’t an oblique injury as the Nationals initially feared when first baseman Matt Adams left Monday night’s game in Chicago. Instead, it was a back spasm that Adams felt near his left oblique area that has kept him out of the lineup the past few days.

Adams was back in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game against the D-backs for the first time since Monday, and celebrated his return by homering in his first at-bat. He finished the day 1-for-4.

He woke up feeling much better Tuesday and with an off-day Wednesday, the Nats decided to wait instead of putting him on the injured list.

“After the day off, we’re glad we didn’t jump to conclusions and put him on the IL,” manager Dave Martinez said. “And he was good. Once they realized it wasn’t his oblique and they were able to point to what it really was, it kind of worked out to the best for everybody. Because we needed that right now.”

The Nationals do not have another healthy true first baseman on the roster, so Adams avoiding the injured list will let Martinez breathe a sigh of relief. In his absence, a combination of Howie Kendrick and Gerardo Parra filled in at first base, but Adams will get majority of starts against right-handers until Ryan Zimmerman returns from the IL.

When Martinez heard of the possibility of an oblique injury, he was concerned the Nats might be without Adams for an extended period of time.

“Then all of a sudden he says he’s good, but you want to see if he’s really good,” Martinez said. “He took bating practice, he swung well, but you still have that [concern], especially coming off the bench and not really fully warmed up. So, today he gets to get warmed up and ready to go."