Sanchez and Bautista promoted, Reynolds demoted, Kelley to DL

SAN FRANCISCO - A long road trip for the Nationals has featured a host of roster transactions, and a bunch more are being added to the list today.

The Nationals are calling up infielder Adrian Sanchez and outfielder Rafael Bautista from Triple-A, optioning infielder Matt Reynolds to Syracuse and placing reliever Shawn Kelley on the disabled list with an elbow injury, sources familiar with the moves confirmed.

It's merely the latest attempt by the club to address a litany of issues that have plagued the roster this month, resulting in a 10-13 record and a three-game losing streak heading into the final two days of this three-city road trip.

Since arriving in New York eight days ago to begin the cross-country trek, the Nationals now have demoted two players (Trevor Gott, Reynolds), placed four others on the DL (Brian Goodwin, Matt Grace, Anthony Rendon, Kelley), traded one (A.J. Cole, after he was designated for assignment) and called up seven (Jeremy Hellickson, Andrew Stevenson, Carlos Torres, Austin L. Adams, Sanchez, Bautista and Gott, who was recalled five days after getting sent to Triple-A).

This latest flurry comes after Kelley had to depart Monday night's game against the Giants after throwing only four pitches, one of which was hit 464 feet and another that was spiked into the turf. The veteran reliever, who has dealt with a litany of elbow injuries throughout his career, was diagnosed with ulnar nerve irritation, a condition he has experienced before and one he believed would subside after a few days off.

The Nationals couldn't afford to wait for Kelley's condition to improve, though, so they're going ahead and placing him on the 10-day DL now. Already featuring an extra reliever since Adams' promotion Saturday, the club will try to make it through the final two days of this trip with a standard seven-man bullpen and instead reinforce its bench with an extra player.

Sanchez replaces Reynolds, who was just 1-for-12 at the plate since his promotion from Triple-A on April 7 and was seen after Monday night's game packing his bags and saying goodbye to teammates. A longtime member of the organization, Sanchez impressed after making his major league debut last season at 26 and was batting .286 with a .349 on-base percentage at Syracuse. The Nats could use him to play second base, freeing up Howie Kendrick to move to left field (which has become a significant void with Adam Eaton and Goodwin on the DL).

Bautista, 25, also made his major league debut last season. After opening this season at Double-A Harrisburg, he was promoted and was swinging a scorching-hot bat at Triple-A (batting .429 with a .966 OPS).

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal was first to report today's transactions.