WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Washington Nationals made the first round of roster cuts from big league camp on Tuesday, reassigning 15 players to minor league camp.
Joan Adon was the only player on the team’s 40-man roster to qualify for Class AAA Rochester. Manager Dave Martinez said Adon pitched well but wanted him to get more innings in minor league camp. Adon, who entered Washington’s starting rotation last season but finished the year 1-12 with a 7.10 ERA, was one of nine pitchers assigned to minor league camp.
The group also included right-handed pitchers Jackson Tetreault, Anthony Castro, Zach Brzyksi, Gerardo Carrillo and Tommy Romero; and left-handed pitchers Alberto Baldonado, Evan Lee and Francisco Perez.
“Some of these guys, we want to extend them; We just don’t have enough innings, especially now that our starters have to go deep in these games,” Martinez said. “We want to prepare them in case something happens.”
Six position players were cut: catcher Brady Lindsley; forwards Lucius Fox and Eric Mejia; and outfielders Yasel Antuna, Donovan Casey and Derek Hill. Hill, 27, suffered a right hamstring injury last week.
All of the players Washington protected from the Rule 5 draft this season are still with the team. Washington placed Matt Cronin, Jackson Rutledge, Jeremy De La Rosa, Jose Ferrer, Jake Irvin and Jake Alu on the 40-man roster to prevent any of those players from being poached by other teams. They all survived the first round of cuts.