The Nationals designated right-hander Jeremy Guthrie for assignment on Sunday, per a team announcement. Guthrie made his first start of the season during Saturday’s 17-3 loss to the Phillies, but couldn’t make it out of the first inning. He issued four walks and 10 runs in 2/3 of the first inning, recording two outs on run-scoring sacrifice flies.
It’s an unfortunate end to Guthrie’s run with the Nationals and may be the end of his major league career as well. The 38-year-old righty hasn’t pitched more than an inning since 2015, when he worked a 5.95 ERA, 2.7 BB/9 and 5.1 SO/9 over 148 1/3 innings for the Royals.
With a vacant spot on the roster and Joe Ross still several days away from returning to the rotation, the Nationals selected the contract of Triple-A right-handed reliever Matt Albers. Albers has not logged any official playing time in Triple-A Syracuse yet, but impressed in spring training with three walks and six strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings.
