The Washington Nationals have designated 28-year old righty starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera for assignment. He pitched in 9 games (8 starts) for the Nationals this season and he was 0-5 with a 5.85 ERA and a 2.08 WHIP. He walked an amazing 35 batters while only whiffing 16 in 40 innings this season for the Nationals. This was a smart move for the Nationals as watching Cabrera pitch was starting to be quite painful.

A return to health has brought back starting 3B Ryan Zimmerman’s power swing. He has played in 26 games for the Nationals this season and he is 37 for 111 (.333 avg, .953 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 5 homers and 20 RBIs. The Nationals are glad that they locked up Zimmerman long term when they did because his price would have been going up.

The Washington Nationals have designated reliever Michael Hinckley for assignment. Hinckley pitched in 14 games (0 starts) for the Nationals this season and he was 0-0 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.97 WHIP. His downfall was walks as he had 11 of them in only 9 2/3 innings this season. The Nationals have recalled 39-year old lefty reliever Ron Villone to replace Hinckley in the bullpen. Villone pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AAA this season and he was 0-0 with a 2.35 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP. Villone has pitched in 654 games (93 starts) in his major league career and he is 56-59 with 7 saves, a 4.75 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. It will be interesting to see if Villone has anything left or not.

The Nationals have signed 32-year old righty reliever Mike MacDougal to a minor league contract. He pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the White Sox this season and he was 0-0 with a 12.46 ERA and a 3.23 WHIP. MacDougal has now pitched in 262 games (3 starts) in his major league career and he is 13-20 with 50 saves, a 4.18 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. MacDougal will get a chance later this season with the Nationals as long as he pitches o.k. in AAA ball first. This was a good low risk move for the Nationals.

UPDATE: The Nationals have called up MacDougal after he threatened to option out of his contract with them. He pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in AAA for the Nationals and he was 0-0 with 2 saves, a 3.24 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. The Nationals have nothing to lose in giving MacDougal a chance to pitch for them.

The Nationals have acquired 26-year old righty reliever Logan Kensing from the Marlins for 23-year old righty reliever Kyle Gunderson. Kensing pitched in 6 games for the Marlins this season (all out of the bullpen) and he was 0-1 with a 9.82 ERA and a 2.59 WHIP. He allowed 14 hits and walked 5 batters for the Marlins in only 7 1/3 innings. Kensing has already pitched in 2 games (0 starts) for the Nationals and he is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. In 110 games (3 starts) in his major league career Kensing is 7-8 with 1 save, a 5.20 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Kensing has whiffed 132 batters in 135 innings in the majors showing that he has good stuff….he just doesn’t know how to pitch. The Nationals should have kept Steven Shell over Kensing. 23-year old righty reliever Kyle Gunderson was the pitcher the Nationals gave up for Kensing. He has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) in A-ball this season and he was 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. Last season Gunderson pitched in 40 games (0 starts) in A + Rookie ball and he was 5-2 with 8 saves, a 2.39 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP.