After some bad news was sprinkled into Sunday's win against the Brewers, securing the first sweep against the team since 2011 and first in Milwaukee since 2006, the Washington Nationals announced a flurry of moves ahead of the four game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Ken Waldichuk is one of two pitchers placed on the 15 day injured list after the team announced left forearm tightness, though Mark Zuckerman reported that the doctor's recommendation is Tommy John surgery as he seeks a second opinion. He will join Cole Henry, who came in relief for Waldichuk, on the 15 day injured list with Henry suffering a right rotator cuff strain, per the Nationals, while Blake Butera noted that it was "nothing too serious" after getting an MRI on his shoulder.
With the pair of pitchers now inactive, the Nationals announced that a pair of right handed pitchers, Orlando Ribalta and Jackson Rutledge, will be recalled from Triple A Rochester following the news.
Waldichuk left Sunday's win in the seventh inning after expressing discomfort and pointing to his inner left elbow as the coaches tended to him during a medical mound visit. He was then replaced by Cole Henry, who gave up a three-run home run that tied the game before the Nationals took the lead back the following inning.
“Yeah, there’s definitely some concern,” manager Blake Butera said after Sunday's win. “Any time somebody goes to their forearm and comes out of the game, it’s usually pretty scary. Before I say anything (else), I want to have some time to take a look at him and figure out what it is.”
The Nationals claimed Waldichuk off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays back on Feb. 5 while he has made five appearances in 2026, posting a 6.75 ERA after allowing at least one run in all but one relief effort this season. This marked his first stint back in MLB after suffering a flexor tendon strain and UCL sprain in his pitching elbow in 2023, ultimately undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2024 that sidelined him for all of 2025.
In six appearances this season, Ribalta has posted a 3.38 ERA while holding opponents to a .158 batting average with six strikeouts to just one walk, including scoreless relief efforts in all but one game. After making his debut in 2023 and pitching in three games in 2024, Rutledge, a former first round pick in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft, made 63 bullpen appearances for the Nationals in 2025 where he tallied a 5.77 ERA and 1.51 WHIP across 73.1 innings. He followed it up by posting a 5.40 ERA in six outings with Rochester in 2026.