Luis

Avilan

Avilán never made it back to the majors after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of 2021. The 34-year-old enjoyed great success as a reliever at various points of his career while making stops between the Braves, Dodgers, Nationals, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, and White Sox. He’ll walk away with a 3.43 ERA over 458 career appearances.

Avilan underwent Tommy John surgery in April, so he likely won’t be an option for the Nationals until after the start of the 2022 season. Still, the 32-year-old gives the club a useful and experienced depth option once he’s ready to go.

The move clears a spot on the 40-man roster for Jon Lester’s arrival. Avilan recently underwent Tommy John surgery.

That was certainly the way it looked to be headed after Avilan was diagnosed over the weekend with a ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. The 31-year-old will hope to return at some point in 2022.

Martinez added that Avilan is currently weighing his options between undergoing season-ending surgery or electing to rest and rehab until the injury heals. Either way, it sounds like he’s going to be sidelined for the majority of the 2021 season. The 31-year-old veteran left-hander was placed on the 10-day injured list earlier this week due to left elbow inflammation. This latest update is basically the worst-case scenario.

Avilan threw 38 pitches Tuesday and 39 Thursday, so it’s no surprise he’s not feeling right physically. Kyle McGowin will take his spot in the bullpen.

To make room for Avilan, the Nationals have designated reliever Dakota Bacus for assignment. Avilan holds a career 3.30 ERA out of the bullpen with an 8.12 K/9 but has been disappointing over the past two seasons, posting an ERA of 5.06 and 4.32 over 40 1/3 innings. The left-hander is still very effective against other lefties, striking out seven of the 18 batters faced last season, but the three-batter minimum may prove to be an obstacle to his success. Right-handers have slugged .587 and .765 against Avilan over the past two years.

Avilan allowed four earned runs over just 8 1/3 innings of work this past season with the Yankees while battling left shoulder inflammation and he also struggled with the Mets in 2019, but the 31-year-old southpaw will bring a sharp 3.30 career ERA into Nats camp and try to nail down an Opening Day bullpen spot.

Avilan was released late last month but is now back in the organization. He’ll be assigned to the club’s alternate training site.

Avilan had been on the injured list with a shoulder injury and evidently the Yankees didn’t feel he’d heal in time to contribute.