Rosenthal heads to Florida to try to figure out control issues

Nationals reliever Trevor Rosenthal is heading to extended spring training in West Palm Beach, Fla., to begin a throwing program as he looks to recover from a viral infection that placed him on the 10-day injured list.

"We just want to get him healthy, get him ready, get him back," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "We laid out a plan for him to go down there. He's going to start a throwing program and get him built up and get him back hopefully as soon as possible."

Rosenthal was at his locker, packing his bag for the trip back to Florida prior to the Nats' series opener against the Cardinals. He said he is recovering well from the infection. Rosenthal believes the focus will be on getting some consistency back in his mechanics.

"I feel real good. I feel real confident," Rosenthal said. "Health-wise, physically, everything feels good. Iron out some timing. I think really just getting the reps in. Let my body figure it out. I feel really good about it."

Rosenthal hopes the change of scenery will let him take a step back and work on throwing to the strike zone again.

"Yeah, just be able to pitch consistently," he said. "Here, I haven't been able to do that. I feel like that's exactly what I need. Just be in a place where I can get reps in, get going again, and I'll be back whenever I feel I'm ready."

General manager Mike Rizzo referenced "muscle fatigue" as one of the issues for Rosenthal. But there has been no reference to his lack of control pointing toward a serious arm injury. So the right-hander doesn't think this rehab will take that long.

"I think, talking with everybody, that's the general consensus is it's not going to take long," Rosenthal said. "It's just a matter of getting it rolling, getting a little confidence and bringing that confidence here."

Rosenthal leaves D.C. after seven appearances with a 36.00 ERA, five wild pitches and three hit batters. Prior to Tommy John surgery, Rosenthal had two wild pitches in 95 games with the Cardinals from 2016-2017.

Rosenthal also confirmed he has not been asked to take a minor league rehab assignment.

And maybe most importantly, Rosenthal does not believe his inability to control his pitches this season like he was able to prior to surgery is due to some sort of a mental block while on the mound.

"I think it's 100 percent physical," Rosenthal said. "Obviously, the physical leads to some frustration. But, no, I don't think I'm mentally stopping myself from doing anything. But the physical side will definitely help me to mentally be able to take a little bit of a deep breath for sure."

Martinez is optimistic this throwing program and rehab work for Rosenthal will take that long. But the skipper also cautioned that there is no set timetable for the reliever's return.

"For me, right now it has to do with the virus first, make sure he's healthy, get him built back up," Martinez said. "He feels better. He put some weight back on. Just getting back out there to throw, it's the repetition. Getting to throw every day, getting to throw back-to-back days and then we will go from there.

"He'll start getting to pitch every other day and maybe throw in a couple of games down there and we'll see where he's at from there."

Martinez also believes that Rosenthal will be able to figure out this wild start for the former closer, and envisions a return to their original plan for the veteran.

"I hope we can use him in the back end of the bullpen still," Martinez said. "That's why we got him. Track record indicates that is who he is. At one point in time he was a really good closer. He had close to 150 saves (121). We just want to make sure he's healthy and he's right."