Rodriguez undergoes elbow surgery, Johnson announces three call-ups

Davey Johnson made a bit of a surprise announcement during this afternoon's pregame session: Henry Rodriguez underwent elbow surgery today to remove a loose body. Rodriguez, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 2 with a lower back strain, was found to have spurring and a fairly large bone chip in his elbow, Johnson said. "The elbow was in a lot worse shape than anticipated," Johnson said. The hard-throwing reliever will not be able to throw for the next three months. He has spent time on the DL this season with both hand and back injuries, but apparently had been toughing out the elbow issue. Johnson said that the injury paints Rodriguez's season in a different light in his mind. Rodriguez was lights out in spring training and pitched to a 1.50 ERA with six saves in his first 13 games. All in all, Rodriguez earned nine saves this season before he started having major control issues, which bumped him from the closer's role, and eventually from meaningful innings altogether. More on Rodriguez to come. Meanwhile, Johnson announced that left-handed starter John Lannan, catcher Sandy Leon and outfielder Eury Perez will be called up to the Nationals tomorrow once rosters expand. Infielder Mark DeRosa will also be activated off the disabled list tomorrow. Two more call-ups are coming once the minor league seasons end, Johnson said. Those call-ups will be Corey Brown and a power arm, likely reliever Christian Garcia.