Garcia is latest to join bullpen with Espino placed on IL

CHICAGO – The Nationals made yet another bullpen move today, calling up recently acquired right-hander Rico Garcia from Triple-A Rochester and placing Paolo Espino on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain in his right ring finger.

It’s the club’s 10th bullpen change in six weeks, evidence of a revolving door unit that has dealt both with injuries and poor performances from those who have tried to fill the void.

Garcia only joined the organization one week ago when he signed a minor league deal after getting released by the Athletics, for whom he posted an 8.31 ERA in seven appearances. The 29-year-old wound up pitching only twice for Rochester before getting the call he was reporting to Chicago to join the big league staff.

“Everything kind of happened so quickly,” Garcia said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to be here.”

The 5-foot-9 Hawaii native has endured through a winding professional career that has included major league stints with the Rockies, Giants, Orioles and A’s. In total he’s pitched 27 big league games, producing a 6.89 ERA and 1.837 WHIP.

“Bulldog. That’s a word I like to use,” he said when asked to describe himself as a pitcher. “Just kind of always been the short guy on a pitching staff, so I had to try to do something to stand out. The results may not have always been there, but the mindset is what keeps me going.”

The Nationals need all the help they can get these days. Injuries to Hunter Harvey and Carl Edwards Jr. ravaged the back end of the bullpen in recent weeks, forcing manager Davey Martinez to summon some significantly inexperienced pitchers for high-leverage spots. Rookies Amos Willingham and Jose A. Ferrer were thrown into the fire Tuesday night in what was a 3-3 game in the seventh inning at Wrigley Field and then proceeded to allow a combined six runs.

Espino then entered for the eighth in mop-up duty but couldn’t even finish that inning. The 36-year-old gave up eight runs while recording only one out.

Afterwards, Espino revealed he had been pitching with pain in his right hand most of the season, a lump having developed on his upper palm below the ring finger. He said it was painful at times, depending on various grips of the ball, and it was significantly worse Tuesday. He’ll get an MRI to determine the severity of the injury once the Nationals return to Washington after tonight’s game.

“Yesterday, he was shaking his hand toward the end a little bit,” Martinez said. “He said it felt OK, but then last night he said his hand started barking a little bit. So we checked him out. He does have some kind of little thing on his hand there, on his fourth finger. So we want to make sure he gets an MRI. I don’t want him pitching with that there.”

Because Garcia was not previously on the organization’s 40-man roster, the Nationals transferred catcher Israel Pineda to the 60-day IL to clear a spot. Pineda has played in only four minor league games this season due to injury, first a fractured finger and then an oblique strain.