CHICAGO -- In the next step in the rehab for his strained right calf, Nationals right-hander Matt Belisle has been added to the roster of Triple-A Syracuse.
Belisle's rehab began on May 24, and he has appeared in six games and thrown eight innings between Class A Advanced Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. But the Nationals have not decided that he is ready to rejoin the club, and manager Dusty Baker has been vague when asked when Belisle will return.
Right-hander Joe Ross lasted only four innings Tuesday night and Blake Treinen -- who had not even thrown 30 pitches in an outing all season or lasted more than two innings -- threw 66 pitches in three innings of relief. Even though Baker said Treinen will likely be unavailable for the next three days and he also wants to avoid using left-hander Sammy Solis, who threw three innings on Sunday, the Nationals did not add a fresh arm to their bullpen before Wednesday's game against the White Sox.
"We didn't even talk about it," Baker said. "What kind of message do you send to other guys if you ask everybody to give me what you got, and he gives me an extra inning, then they get sent to the Minor Leagues? That's not a very good message for the organization to send. Now if we were upside down, we might have to do something, but we don't have to do that right now."
Baker also pointed to the fact that ace Max Scherzer was on the mound and the team expected him to pitch deep into the game. Still, it was unusual for Treinen to throw so many pitches when Baker normally calls on Yusmeiro Petit, who was rested and threw an inning Tuesday, to fill the long-man role.
"He had been a starter before and we had conditioned him in Spring Training to kind of be a long-relief guy," Baker said of Treinen. "But when he's found his control, he started our season as a setup man, and he might return to that. ... I don't think that Treinen has found what he's set out to do."