Nats recall Salazar after placing Weems on IL

ST. LOUIS – The Nationals sent Eduardo Salazar down to Triple-A on Tuesday, saying they wanted to see the right-hander back in the big leagues before long. Turns out it took only three days to bring him back.

The Nats recalled Salazar from Rochester this afternoon, permitted to make such a move because he is replacing an injured teammate, in this case Jordan Weems, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shin splints.

Pitchers normally are required to spend 15 days in the minors after getting optioned, but exceptions are made for doubleheaders and injuries. And in this case, the Nationals were able to get the exemption because of Weems’ injury, which he made club officials aware of earlier this week.

Owner of a 6.59 ERA and 1.683 WHIP in 40 appearances, Weems was roughed up by the Padres for five runs in one inning of relief Wednesday after starter Mitchell Parker was pulled after only three frames. Manager Davey Martinez said he noticed Weems struggling to push off the mound, and when asked about it, the 29-year-old admitted he has dealt with pain in his shin on and off since last season.

“Last year, it was pretty bad,” said Weems, who still had a 3.62 ERA and 1.207 WHIP in 51 games. “This year, it just kind of continued to get worse and worse. It felt like it was a good time to just give it a blow, instead of letting it get to the point where I do get something like a stress fracture or something like, where you could really be out for a while.”

While acknowledging the leg issue has hampered him at times, Weems admitted his struggles this season have been more a problem of his limited repertoire.

“I think last year, I was a lot more consistent with my slider,” he said. “I feel like this year, my fastball’s been pretty (good). It’s just I’ve been a one-pitch pitcher. … I’ve just got to get my slider location back and just get back to filling the strike zone with strikes.”

Because he’s out of options, Weems had remained on the active roster since Opening Day in spite of his struggles. The Nationals were not willing to designate him for assignment and take the chance that another organization might claim him off waivers.

“I’m so thankful,” he said. “Some other organizations might not be that way. Baseball’s hard. This game is demanding. I’m thankful for them allowing me to, hopefully, figure it out.”

Salazar returns for his second stint with the Nationals, having made only one appearance during the previous one. The 26-year-old impressed during that outing in Milwaukee, though, striking out four over two scoreless innings with an upper-90s fastball and sharp-breaking slider.

The right-hander was claimed off waivers from the Mariners last month and proceeded to post an 0.84 ERA with 15 strikeouts and only two walks over 10 2/3 innings at Triple-A. He pitched Thursday for Rochester, throwing 24 pitches across 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

“We talked about this before we sent him down: We want to see a lot more of him,” Martinez said. “And we’re going to get an opportunity to see him.”