PITTSBURGH -- Nationals right-hander Reynaldo López was outstanding during Saturday's 6-1 victory over the Pirates. He replaced Joe Ross in the third inning and pitched 5 1/3 innings without allowing a run and struck out six batters.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker was so impressed that he said he hasn't ruled out putting Lopez, the third-best prospect in the Nationals' farm system according to MLBPipeline.com, on the postseason roster.
"We wanted to use Lopez as our long man. We wanted to see how he did out of the bullpen. Who knows? He might be on our playoff roster," Baker said. "He has made some adjustments. [Pitching coach] Mike [Maddux] made some big adjustments with him. [Catcher Wilson] Ramos directed him masterfully."