Injured again, Rainey running out of time to return in 2021

Tanner Rainey should be a part of the Nationals bullpen during these final two months of a season that began with October hopes but is ending in full-scale evaluation mode. As Mike Rizzo and Davey Martinez gauge what they now have in a relief corps filled with inexperienced arms, Rainey's absence is all too noticeable.

Though Kyle Finnegan has done a nice job serving as the team's de facto closer since Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand were traded, Rainey was the guy all along who most profiled as a future ninth-inning reliever.

But you won't find the 28-year-old in the Nats bullpen right now. Nor will you even find him in Rochester's bullpen, due to a left side injury that has sidelined him while he was trying to rediscover his lost form in Triple-A.

Demoted to the minors Aug. 1, Rainey pitched in only four games for the Red Wings before this side ailment forced him to be shut down. And now, with only 5 1/2 weeks left in the season, the right-hander could be running out of time to make it back to a big league mound in 2021.

"He wants to get back," Martinez said Wednesday during a Zoom session with reporters. "He wants to finish this season on the mound, and not particularly hurt. So we're trying to get him ready. As soon as he's able to start throwing again, he'll get back on the mound, and we'll try to get him back up here as soon as possible."

After an encouraging finish to his 2019 season and a breakthrough showing in 2020, Rainey looked poised to hold a prominent role in the Nationals bullpen this year. But he missed a chunk of time in spring training with a chest injury, then got off to a rough start, then spent a week in May on the COVID-19 injured list, then continued to struggle, then was placed back on the IL with a stress reaction in his lower right leg, then made one disastrous appearance July 29 in Philadelphia before getting optioned back to Triple-A, then was called up for a doubleheader in New York two weeks ago and was roughed up again, then was sent back to Rochester and now is hurt again.

Put it all together, and you've got a guy with a 7.62 ERA and 1.808 WHIP in 32 big league appearances this season, all while dealing with four separate medical issues in what has devolved into a lost season.

"He's just had a difficult year with injuries," Martinez said. "I think after some point it becomes monotonous. He tries to figure out whether he's trying too hard or whatever. But I don't want to put any negative thoughts in Rainey's head. I just want him to get better, figure out how we can get him better."

And that's why the Nationals will continue to help Rainey get through his latest ailment, get back on the mound in Rochester and ideally return to pitch in D.C. before the season wraps up.

"He doesn't want to end this year without being back on the mound," Martinez said. "And that's what we're striving for, to get him healthy, get him back on the mound and get him pitching again. And if it's two or three outings that he gets to go on the mound, at least he has something to build off going into the wintertime, so we can get him back for next year."