The Nationals have placed 28-year old righty reliever Chad Gaudin on the 15-day disabled list with a case of right shoulder inflammation. He has pitched in 10 games (0 starts) for the Nationals so far this year and he is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA and a 2.40 WHIP. The Nationals have called up 24-year old righty reliever Henry Rodriguez to replace Gaudin in the bullpen. Rodriguez has pitched in 9 games (1 start) in AA+AAA-ball this year and he was 0-0 with a 0.73 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He only has given up 8 hits in 12 1/3 innings while whiffing 16 batters so far this year which shows what kind of arm he has. Rodriguez last pitched in the majors in 2010 with the A’s. He has pitched in 32 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Rodriguez already has 33 whiffs in his first 27 2/3 innings in the majors, so the Nationals are excited to bring him up and add him to the pen.

32-year old righty starting pitcher Jason Marquis is finally starting to earn his big paycheck for the Nationals. In his first year with the Nationals (2010), he started 13 games in which he was 2-9 with a 6.60 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP. He gave up 76 hits (9 homers) and he also walked 24 batters in only 58 2/3 innings last year, which is pretty awful. This season though, Marquis has looked like a much different pitcher this year which has the Nationals excited about him. Marquis has started 4 games so far this year and he is 2-0 with a 3.55 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. Marquis is still giving up his fair share of hits (30 in 25 1/3 innings), but he’s throwing strikes as he has only walked 5 batters so far this year. Marquis is a innings eater like Livan Hernandez, when he’s healthy, which will help the bullpen in 2011.

The changing of the guard behind the plate might be starting right now in Washington. 23-year old righty swinging Wilson Ramos has been getting slightly more than 50% of the P.T. behind the plate so far this year. He has played in 13 games for the Nationals so far this year and he is 14 of 41 (.341 avg, .828 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. His only real weakness is that he doesn’t knock in a lot of runs, but that might change in time, especially if he keeps hitting around .300. 39-year old righty swinging Ivan Rodriguez has played in 11 games for the Nationals so far this year and he is 7 for 36 (.194 avg, .570 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 8 RBIs. Rodriguez has more thump in his bat and he can still throw well, so I look for catcher to continue to be a timeshare for the Nationals.

The Washington Nationals have signed 28-year old lefty swinging infielder Tug Hulett. Hulett last played in the majors in 2009 with the Royals. Hulett has now played in 45 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 13 for 67 (.194 avg, .524 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. He has whiffed 23 times already in his career so he will need to improve on making contact if he’s going to work his way back to the majors with the Nationals.

The Nationals have designated 26-year old lefty reliever Lee Hyde for assignment. Hyde pitched in 6 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Nationals this year and he is 1-0 with a 11.05 ERA and a 3.14 WHIP. He gave up 14 hits and he walked 9 batters in his 7 1/3 innings this year in the minors. The Nationals have seen enough of Hyde to know that they don’t want him around any more.