Rainey building arm back up after "minor muscle strain"

None of the Nationals' projected late-inning relievers have made their spring debuts yet. Mostly, that's by design as the club slowly builds them up during the first two weeks of camp. One of them, however, has been held back not by design but by injury.

Tanner Rainey, the most promising young arm in the Nats' relief corps, has been dealing with what manager Davey Martinez termed a "minor muscle strain" near his right collarbone. The right-hander was shut down for several days but has since resumed baseball activities and is now throwing from 90 feet on flat ground.

"He threw the ball the other day with no discomfort," Martinez said this morning during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "We're going to get him built up and back on the mound as soon as possible."

Coming off a breakthrough season in which he posted a 2.66 ERA and microscopic 0.738 WHIP across 20 appearances, Rainey has been viewed as a critical part of a rebuilt and deep Nationals bullpen that (on paper) looks like a legitimate strength. Though he's unlikely to close games ahead of veterans Brad Hand, Daniel Hudson and Will Harris, the 28-year-old is seen as a potential future closer who has enjoyed success against hitters from both sides of the plate.

Rainey, though, did wear down as the shortened 2020 season progressed. After appearing in 14 of the team's first 28 games, he was given an extended break to rest his arm. Even so, he spent the last three weeks of the season on the injured list with a flexor strain in his right forearm.

Given that history, the Nationals planned to be careful with Rainey this spring, building him up slowly as they're doing with their veteran relievers.

"We definitely wanted to bring him to camp and kind of take it easy," Martinez said. "I know he worked out and did a lot of stuff this offseason; he said he threw quite a bit. With that being said, our discussion with him was just to kind of get him going slow like we do with the rest of the guys - Hudson, Hand, Harris - and get him in that program."

Assuming he continues to progress in his throwing program over the next week, Rainey still has time to get his arm in shape for opening night. Late-inning relievers typically don't need the full six weeks of spring training to prepare; their primary focus is always on the final two weeks of March as they begin to throw on a more regular schedule.

"As of right now, he'll be ready to go," Martinez said. "He'll get about six or seven outings. Hopefully by the end, we'll have him (pitch) back-to-back days. Like I said, he feels better. He's anxious to get on the mound. But right now, we're being very cautious and trying to take things slow."

Another veteran addition to the Nationals' bullpen, Jeremy Jeffress, is catching up to his new teammates after signing a minor league deal after camp opened. The 33-year-old right-hander, who appears likely to make the roster if healthy, has begun throwing live batting practice to teammates. He'll continue to do that for now in advance of his Grapefruit League debut.

"We'll see him fairly soon," Martinez said. "Here's a guy that came to spring training, he's ready. The first time I saw him throw, he threw the ball really well. I asked him: 'Have you been throwing?' He said: 'Yeah, religiously.' But he looks great. I watched him throw yesterday; the ball was coming out really nice. So a couple more live BPs, maybe, and then we'll get him in a game."