Harvey is latest from bullpen to land on IL

The Nationals were relieved to learn Josh Bell could return to today’s lineup after departing Wednesday night’s game with tightness in his left knee. They were not so relieved to learn another member of their bullpen is out with an arm ailment.

The Nats placed Hunter Harvey on the 10-day injured list shortly before today’s series finale against the Diamondbacks with a right pronator strain, a situation that appears to have just emerged within the last 24 hours after the hard-throwing reliever tossed a scoreless inning.

Harvey, the former Orioles first-round pick whose career has been beset by a smorgasbord of injuries, made four scoreless appearances since joining the Nationals bullpen during the season’s opening weekend. The 27-year-old was starting to earn his way into manager Davey Martinez’s good graces and perhaps start getting called upon in high-leverage situations, but something apparently didn’t feel right during Wednesday night’s game.

Harvey entered that outing averaging 97 mph on his fastball in his first three appearances. That number went down to 96 mph during Wednesday’s game, bottoming out at 94.3 mph on one of the 12 pitches he threw to three Arizona batters.

The pronator is part of the flexor mass group of muscles and tendons in the forearm, near the elbow. A pronator strain would be to one of the muscles in that area, not an uncommon injury for pitchers.

Martinez had just praised Harvey on Wednesday, saying how he’d like to start using him in bigger spots, though also pointing out he needed to take extra care of him because of his long injury history. Now he’ll be sidelined for a while, joining Sean Doolittle on the 10-day IL with elbow injuries.

Taking Harvey’s spot on the active roster is Erasmo Ramírez, a 31-year-old reliever who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Rochester. Ramírez had five scoreless appearances for the Red Wings prior to his promotion. He’s appeared in 216 big league games (92 of them starts) for the Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Mets and Tigers, compiling a 4.37 ERA and 1.240 WHIP.

Needing to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Ramírez, the Nationals transferred Ehire Adrianza to the 60-day IL. Adrianza, who suffered a quadriceps strain during the final week of spring training, is rehabbing in West Palm Beach, Fla., but has not yet begun running on the field or participating in baseball activities. This move ensures he can’t return until at least June.

The selection of Ramírez is notable because the Nats chose not to promote Tyler Clippard, also currently pitching for Rochester and expected to join the big league bullpen once he builds his arm up after signing a minor league deal late in spring training. Clippard opened his season with five scoreless appearances for the Red Wings, but he gave up five runs Saturday without recording an out and has not pitched again since.

Other injury updates …

* Aníbal Sánchez, on the 10-day IL since opening day with a nerve impingement in his neck, is not throwing, confined only to rehab. The 38-year-old right-hander will still need to build his arm up to start once he’s cleared to resume throwing, so his season debut appears to remain in the distant future.

* Dee Strange-Gordon, on the COVID-19 IL the last six days, has not yet been cleared to return. Once he is, he’ll need to go on a rehab assignment and get at-bats in 5-6 minor league games, Martinez said.

* Gerardo Carillo was placed on Double-A Harrisburg’s seven-day IL with shoulder discomfort, according to Martinez. The right-hander is one of the four players the Nationals acquired from the Dodgers in last summer’s Max Scherzer-Trea Turner trade.