Nationals recall Lee and García, put Escobar on IL

The Washington Nationals announced the following roster moves on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements.

• Recalled left-handed pitcher Evan Lee from Double- A Harrisburg
• Recalled infielder Luis García from Triple-A Rochester
• Placed shortstop Alcides Escobar on the 10-day Injured List with a right hamstring strain
• Optioned right-handed pitcher Francisco Pérez to Triple-A Rochester

Lee, 24, went 0-3 with a 3.60 ERA in seven games (seven starts) for Double-A Harrisburg, striking out 37 batters in 30.0 innings pitched. He opened the season strong, pitching to a 1.86 ERA (4 ER/19.1 IP) and a .182 opponents’ batting average (12-for-66) through his first five starts. Lee is Washington’s No. 17 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com and the No. 20 prospect, per Baseball America.

In 2021, Lee ranked among Nationals Minor Leaguers (min. 70.0 IP) in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (3^rd, 12.2), opponents’ batting average (3^rd, .239), home runs allowed per 9.0 innings (3^rd, 0.70), fielding independent pitching (3^rd, 3.60), groundball rate (4^th, 47.8%) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (5^th, 3.25). Lee went 4-3 with a 4.32 ERA in 21 games (20 starts) for High-A Wilmington. He was named High-A East Pitcher of the Week (Sept. 21) after tossing 6.0 shutout innings with one hit and seven strikeouts on Sept. 2 at Brooklyn.

Lee, a two-way player (LHP/OF/1B) at the University of Arkansas, was selected in the 15th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft. He is the 22^nd pitcher drafted, signed and developed by the Nationals (2005-pres.) to start a game for Washington. He is 7-8 with a 3.79 ERA, 186 strikeouts and 68 walks in 42 career Minor League outings across four professional seasons.

García, 22, joins the Nationals after recording a .314/.368/.531 slash line with six doubles, four triples, eight home runs, 32 RBI, 16 walks, one stolen base and 39 runs scored in 42 games for Triple-A Rochester. He ranked in Washington’s system in triples (2^nd, 4), batting average (3^rd, .314), home runs (3^rd, 8), RBI (3^rd, 32), slugging percentage (3^rd, .531), OPS (3^rd, .899), runs (3^rd, 39), extra-base hits (4^th, 18) and on-base percentage (8^th, .368). García was named International League Player of the Week on April 18 after leading the league in hits (14), batting average (.519), and total bases (23) across six games from April 12-17. He recorded five multi-hit efforts in those six games.

In two Major League seasons (2020-21), García has hit .254 with 24 doubles, two triples, eight homers, 38 RBI, 16 walks and 47 runs scored in 110 games.

Escobar, 35, joined the Nationals in 2021. In two seasons (2021-22) in D.C., he hit .270 with 25 doubles, four triples, four homers, 36 RBI, 22 walks and 64 runs scored in 110 games.

Pérez, 24, appeared in six relief appearances across three stints, recording a 5.06 ERA with four strikeouts and six walks.