Washington Nationals left-hander DJ Herz has opted for season-ending Tommy John surgery after three medical opinions and three weeks of rest, TalkNats.com reported Wednesday.
Herz was placed on the 15-day injured list March 25 with a sprained elbow and testing confirmed a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Also on Wednesday, the Nationals placed Paul DeJong on the 10-day injured list with a fractured nose and recalled fellow infielder Trey Lipscomb from Triple-A Rochester.
DeJong was injured after he was hit in the face by a fastball from Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s game.
“Situations like that are scary. We just hope for the best, really. I didn’t really know what happened. I thought it hit him in the helmet; that’s what it sounded like,” Nationals outfielder James Wood told MLB.com. “But just hearing more about it, it didn’t look pretty.”
Herz, 24, went 0-2 with a 6.52 ERA in four games (three starts) in spring training before being optioned to Triple-A Rochester.
He made his major league debut last June and finished 4-9 with a 4.16 ERA in 19 starts for the Nationals. He struck out 106 batters and walked 36 in 88 2/3 innings.
DeJong, 31, is batting .204 with two RBIs in 16 games this season. The nine-year veteran is a career .228 hitter with 140 homers and 402 RBIs in 884 career games with six teams.
Lipscomb, 24, is hitting .296 with one homer, seven RBIs and five runs scored in 13 games with Triple-A Rochester.