The Nationals made a late roster move Thursday afternoon, deeming right-handed reliever Brad Lidge ready to return to duty and activating him from the disabled list. In order to do so, they placed right-hander Henry Rodriguez on the DL with a strained right index finger.
For Lidge, the move culminates a 38-game stay on the disabled list. Lidge first went down with an abdominal wall strain on April 27, and was placed on the DL retroactive to April 22. He then underwent May 1 surgery to repair a sports hernia and has been working his way back to full health for the last month.
Lidge pitched a scoreless inning for Single-A Potomac on Wednesday night, striking out two and getting one ground out and manager Davey Johnson said the right-hander was feeling “great,” on Thursday morning.
For Rodriguez the move to the disabled list is something the Nationals were clearly trying to avoid. Rodriguez slammed his right index finger in his bathroom door while the team was in Miami and was dealing with some swelling and pain. He did not pitch for an entire week but Johnson used him Tuesday night in the Nationals’ 12-inning victory over the Mets.
Rodriguez faced four batters and threw a wild pitch that allowed what was the go-ahead run to score in the 10th inning.
More on the move after the game.
