Luis

Sardinas

He’s one of 40 minor league players who were released by the club. Sardinas, 27, spent last season between the Nationals’ Double- and Triple-A affiliates. He last appeared in the majors in 2018 as a member of the Orioles.

Sardinas logged only 20 plate appearances at the MLB level in 2018 -- all with the Orioles -- and managed just two hits. The 25-year-old infielder holds a weak .224/.274/.292 career slash line in the bigs.

Sardinas started at shortstop and played all nine innings. The 19-year-old is getting an extended look this spring and should open the year with the Rangers’ High-A affiliate. MLB.com rated Sardinas as the No. 84 prospect in their pre-2013 ratings.

It was an easy call to add Sardinas to the 40-man roster. The 20-year-old switch-hitter batted .288/.340/.347 with two home runs, 46 RBI and 32 stolen bases in 126 games this past season between High-A Myrtle Beach and Double-A Frisco.

Now it makes more sense why he’s missed a week of action with what had been described as a stomach bug. Marte shouldn’t need much more than another week before being activated. Shawn O’Malley and Luis Sardinas will share shortstop in his absence.

He’ll replace the injured Jabari Blash (finger) on the active roster. Sardinas was just acquired from the Mariners last week and owns a lowly .218/.257/.268 batting line in the majors. He figures to serve in a utility infielder role.

That means it will be one and done for Ramirez in San Diego. The aging shortstop has hit just .240 this year with five homers and 41 RBI. Luis Sardinas has begun to see more playing time at shortstop with Ramirez making occasional starts in right field.

Sardinas was no longer needed with Leonys Martin returning from the disabled list, so he’ll head back to Triple-A where he’ll provide organizational depth.

Sardinas just missed a grand slam in the fourth inning, but he settled for a bases-clearing double. He didn’t miss in his next at-bat, as he took Mike Dunn deep for a solo blast in the sixth inning. The 23-year-old was recently acquired from the Mariners and should get a chance to show what he can do at shortstop down the stretch, though we aren’t expecting much in the way of fantasy value.

Chris Taylor has been optioned to Triple-A as the corresponding roster move. Earlier this season, the 23-year-old Sardinas saw 26 at-bats with the M’s and managed just four hits in that space. While he could see his share of playing time until Ketel Marte (thumb) is ready to return, Sardinas has yet to find the sort of major league success that would make him a palatable fantasy option.