Kieboom back on IL at Triple-A; lefties continue to struggle

Carter Kieboom’s path back to the major leagues has taken another step backward.

The oft-injured former first-round pick is back on the injured list at Triple-A Rochester, this time with a left oblique issue. He’s scheduled to undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury, Nationals manager Davey Martinez said.

This latest injury comes barely one month after Kieboom finally started playing every day at Rochester after a long recovery from Tommy John surgery. The 25-year-old third baseman missed all of the 2022 season, then remained at extended spring training throughout April while dealing with a shoulder problem.

After a four-game rehab stint at Double-A Harrisburg, Kieboom was activated off the IL and debuted for Rochester on May 9. In 26 games since, he hit .264 with six doubles, one triple, three homers, 18 RBIs, a .366 on-base percentage and .790 OPS.

“He’s worked really hard to get back to where he’s at,” Martinez said. “He’s had all these little nagging injuries. And then again, people don’t realize how tough it is to play every day (in) this game. It’s tough. When he’s not used to doing it for over a year and he’s playing every day, your body sometimes reacts to it. Hopefully this is just a minor setback and we can get him back on the field, because he’s been hitting the ball really well.”

The Nationals’ first-round pick in the 2016 draft, Kieboom made his major league debut in 2019 and spent the next three seasons bouncing back and forth between D.C. and Triple-A, never able to seize the third base job that had been anointed to him after Anthony Rendon departed in free agency. In 414 career plate appearances for the Nats, he owns a .197/.304/.285 slash line with seven doubles, eight homers and 31 RBIs.

Still on the organization’s 40-man roster, Kieboom hasn’t appeared to be in the club’s immediate plans. Jeimer Candelario was signed for $5 million over the winter to be the everyday third baseman, though he’s eligible for free agency at season’s end. Brady House, the 2021 first-round pick, is viewed as the club’s long-term third baseman now, though he only recently was promoted to High-A Wilmington and remains several years away from debuting in D.C.

* The Nationals’ ongoing search for a reliable left-handed reliever remains a work in progress, with none of the obvious candidates in Rochester making a compelling case for promotion.

Sean Doolittle has struggled in each of his first two Triple-A appearances following three games a piece at Single-A and Double-A. The 36-year-old has faced 11 batters in total for Rochester and allowed five to reach base, giving up two homers and a triple in the process. He has thrown only 19 of 38 pitches for strikes and surrendered a pair of stolen bases Saturday in his last outing.

Joe La Sorsa, recently claimed off waivers from the Rays, was roughed up for three runs in one of his four appearances so far for Rochester and didn’t retire any of three batters faced in another. The soft-tossing 25-year-old does have four strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.

Jose Ferrer owns a 6.11 ERA in his last 16 appearances, having walked 13 batters in 17 2/3 innings. The 23-year-old has a 4.37 ERA and 1.657 WHIP in 30 total appearances this season.

Matt Cronin, who had a 5.02 ERA and 1.884 WHIP in 14 games, has been on the IL for the last month.

And Alberto Baldonado, who made 14 big league appearances for the Nationals in 2021, was just released by the organization so he can sign with a Japanese club after posting a 3.03 ERA and 1.348 WHIP in 29 games.