Call lands on 10-day IL with Millas taking roster spot for now

ATLANTA – Though his injury didn’t prove to be as devastating as it appeared to everyone who watched it happen Friday night, Alex Call still did need to be placed on the injured list today with a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his left foot.

The Nationals made that transaction this afternoon, officially putting Call on the 10-day IL and recalling catcher Drew Millas from Triple-A Rochester to take his roster spot for now.

Call hurt himself charging in from right field in the bottom of the second on a shallow fly ball that ultimately was caught by second baseman Luis García Jr. Call fell to the ground in agony about 20 feet behind García, suffering a non-contact injury that left him and plenty others worried he had torn his Achilles’ tendon.

But the 29-year-old, who had been trying to play through a case of plantar fasciitis, felt the “snap” in his foot, not ankle. And though he had to be carted off the field, an MRI of the foot revealed the tear of the fascia, which actually left him encouraged at night’s end.

The injury is serious enough to require an IL stint, though the Nats don’t know yet how long that stint will be.

“He looked like he was walking a little better today, so we’ll see what happens in the next few days and see how he feels,” manager Davey Martinez said, adding: “I’ve seen some guys come back in two or three weeks, and some guys take longer. Only time will tell.”

The timing of the injury is especially difficult for Call, who in 23 games since coming up from Triple-A following Lane Thomas’ trade to Cleveland was batting.349 with a .413 on-base percentage, eight doubles and three homers.

“I’ve never played better in my life,” he said.

The injury also occurred three days before the Nationals plan to promote top prospect Dylan Crews from Rochester to make his major league debut Monday night in D.C. against the Yankees. The organization could have bumped up the timeline and had Crews come to Atlanta for the rest of the weekend but opted to stick with the original plan and instead bring Millas up to serve as a third catcher for now.

“We talked about getting him up here in September, so he’s here now,” Martinez said. “I’d like to use him tomorrow if possible, because we’ve got an early (12:05 p.m.) game. But look, he’s been doing really (well) down there at Triple-A. He’s been hitting over .300. He’s been catching really well. Get him up here, get him an opportunity and see what he looks like.”

Millas has enjoyed a strong season in the minors, batting .311 with an .879 OPS in 60 games for Rochester. But in 11 big league games across multiple stints, he is just 5-for-30 with one RBI (via a solo homer) while throwing out 3-of-10 would-be basestealers.

Riley Adams also has struggled at the plate, with a .224/.292/.336 slash line across 130 plate appearances while throwing out only 3-of-34 baserunners.

“It’s a tough thing to do,” Martinez said of the backup catcher’s role. “What I would say for both of those guys, they’ve handled themselves really well as far as handling the pitching staff. I know I can count on them to give me everything they’ve got every time they play. That’s a really tough position. I know they’re both engaged and they’re both trying to get better every day.”