Ribalta placed on IL, Henry recalled for first time

MIAMI – The Nationals made another roster move ahead of Sunday’s finale against the Marlins, placing right-hander Orlando Ribalta on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to April 10) with a right biceps strain and recalling right-hander Cole Henry from Triple-A Rochester.

"It'll be his first time in the major leagues, we're excited about that," manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame media session. “He's a guy that could give us some multiple innings. He threw the ball really well in spring training. So he gets an opportunity to come up here and help us win games out of the bullpen.”

Ribalta, 27, hasn’t pitched in a game since Tuesday, when he threw 58 pitches over three innings in a bullpen-game win over the Dodgers. But after that outing, he told the Nats his arm was feeling tight and he wasn’t recovering as he normally does.

“A couple days ago, he was throwing and he said he just felt tight,” Martinez said. “So I said, 'Hey, just take your time. Keep throwing, see what we got. Go work with the trainers.' He just didn't rebound very well. This is day three or four now, so we just decided to put him on the IL and give him some time.”

The 6-foot-7 reliever had an MRI this morning and will go back to D.C. to start building up strength while the team heads to Pittsburgh. The Nats are hopeful Ribalta can play catch when they get back from this 10-day road trip.

Ribalta had a 5.87 ERA and six strikeouts in 7 ⅔ innings over four games this season.

That opened the door for Henry to get his first call-up to the major leagues. The 2020 second-round pick out of LSU and former top prospect has had his career derailed by various injuries. The biggest blow, however, was thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in August 2022.

The right-hander made the full-time switch to the bullpen this spring to try to reinvent his career, pitching 4 ⅔ scoreless innings with nine strikeouts over three Grapefruit League games.

“Him bouncing back the way he did has really been exciting to me,” Martinez said. “The role that he's in now, he can really help us.

In two games with the Red Wings this season, Henry struck out four and allowed just one hit in two innings. He was already on the Nats’ 40-man roster, having his contract selected in November 2023 to keep another team from snatching him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Whenever he makes his major league debut, Henry will become the third of the six players selected by the Nationals in the pandemic-shortened 2020 draft to make it to Washington, joining Cade Cavalli (first round) and Mitchell Parker (fifth round).

“He'll go in and he'll give us some length out of the bullpen, which is great,” Martinez said of Henry. “We always talk about those guys that can pitch multiple innings. He's a guy that we talked to. He was a starter before in spring training, he pitched multiple innings. He did really well. So I'll get him out there as soon as we deem we need him, but we're happy to have him. Like I said, he's a guy that we've had in our organization that could throw the ball really well. The key for him is to keep him healthy.”

* Here are the listed pitching probables for the Nats’ upcoming series against the Pirates in Pittsburgh:

Monday – RHP Brad Lord vs. RHP Paul Skenes
Tuesday – RHP Jake Irvin vs. RHP Mitch Keller
Wednesday – LHP Mitchell Parker vs. LHP Bailey Falter
Thursday – RHP Trevor Williams vs. LHP Andrew Heaney

It will be Nats' (and possibly Dylan Crews') first time facing Skenes.

Skenes and Crews were selected Nos. 1 and 2 overall, respectively, in the 2023 draft after they won the College World Series at LSU. Each has previously spent time as the top prospect in baseball.