Venters likes Nats' chances in postseason, reflects on his time in D.C.

Left-hander Jonny Venters revealed he had surgery for a torn anterior inferior capsule in his left shoulder a couple of weeks ago and now begins rehabbing again.

The 34-year-old Venters has gone through several Tommy John surgeries in his career and now faces another rehab, this time on his shoulder. He will wait until later in rehab to see if he will return to baseball or retire.

"We will see how it defines itself," Venters said. "If it's good, I'll keep going. If it's not, then there's always a time to move on. I'm ancient in baseball, you know what I mean?"

Venters spoke from his locker with a big black suitcase packed to his right side. He reflected on his short time with the Nationals, the coaching staff, the front office and especially the medical team for helping him get started again with another rehab.

"I couldn't be more grateful for them to let me just be around here," Venters said. "A lot of teams would just kind of send you home. I'm a free agent, I'm not going to be ... I mean I would love to be here but there's no telling where I'll be. For them to give me the option to stay here and be around these guys and get the best medical treatment you can get is here in this clubhouse. I couldn't be more grateful."

Venters arrived in June 29 after pitching in a handful of games to start the season with the Braves. The southpaw had spent most of his career pitching with Atlanta, fighting through injuries and rehabbing, and pitching 22 games for Tampa Bay.

Atlanta leads the division by 5 1/2 games over the Nationals with less than a month remaining in the regular season. Venters believes this wild card-leading Nats team has a very good shot at challenging for a title in the National League.

"This is a special group of guys," Venters said. "I look forward to just being around them and watch them do special stuff. Being with Atlanta and Tampa the last couple of years, I think this team is the best team I've been a part of. They're playing good baseball and I couldn't be more happy to be around."

Stop right there. Best team as far as baseball goes, or best team to be on friendship-wise?

"Both. I think the camaraderie in the clubhouse (and) on the field is great," Venters said.

He believes the strength of the Nationals lies in guys like Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin and Aníbal Sánchez.

"I always felt once you get to a playoff scenario, starting pitching is huge," Venters said. "I think this team has got the best in the game in my opinion. I think it's just going to be an exciting couple of months to be a part of and hope that I can hang around and watch it. It's just a great group of guys. Everyone gets along. Everybody is rooting for each other. You don't really find that a whole lot. I think we are one of the older teams in the game. But also the younger guys, the (Juan) Sotos and the (Victor) Robles, those guys are team players, they are here to win. Unselfish. That's special."

Venters is disappointed he was unable to pitch in more games with this team and make a more lasting impact. He will work on rehabbing his shoulder and then make a decision on continuing prior to spring training 2020. For now, Venters will root on his buddies at Nats Park and see where this ride takes them.

"It's tough because I only pitched three games here," Venters said. "I didn't contribute. It's a bad feeling to pitch three games, get hurt. It's just a bad look. But everybody here has treated me great. Hopefully the rehab goes well and start throwing in a few months and go from there."