Irvin goes on IL with shoulder strain but expected to start throwing in three days

The Nationals are optimistic Jake Irvin's issue isn't serious and that the right-hander's stint on the 15-day IL will be minimal

Photo by Serena Brown / ALL-PRO REELS

ATLANTA – Jake Irvin is making a rare trip to the injured list, but the Nationals believe that trip will be minimal and that the right-hander could be back in the starting rotation in short order.

The Nats placed Irvin on the 15-day IL with a right shoulder strain, a diagnosis made after this morning’s MRI, and recalled left-hander PJ Poulin from Triple-A Rochester to take his spot on the active roster for this afternoon’s series finale against the Braves.

Irvin was highly encouraged by the diagnosis, calling it “the best news that we could’ve heard.” He’ll be shut down for two days, but manager Blake Butera said the plan is for him to resume throwing after that, suggesting he won’t need to miss considerable time.

“He’ll go on the IL, but it’s also something not too concerning that we think will be a minimum IL stay for now,” Butera said. “Obviously, we’ll monitor it and see how he’s feeling coming out of this. But the thoughts are it could’ve been worse, and we got about as good of news as we could.”

Irvin was enjoying his best start of the season Saturday, throwing five no-hit innings on 80 pitches with one walk against one of baseball’s toughest lineups while maintaining some of his highest fastball velocity readings of the year (94-95 mph). But on his last pitch of the fifth, he hunched over in discomfort and told the coaching staff his shoulder had tightened up.

Irvin attempted to re-take the mound for the bottom of the sixth, but when his first warm-up throw didn’t go well, he departed alongside head athletic trainer Dale Gilbert. Reliever Brad Lord continued the no-hitter into the seventh inning before surrendering a single to Michael Harris II, the only hit the Braves recorded in the game.

As he waited for this morning’s MRI, Irvin remained optimistic.

“I was confident that it was nothing long-term,” he said. “I think you just kind of roll with the punches, no matter what it looks like. One of those ‘It is what it is’ scenarios. I’m just happy that it turned out the way it did.”

This is only the second IL stint of Irvin’s career. He was shut down for the final week of the 2023 season with right ankle tendinitis but otherwise has made every one of his 101 MLB starts as scheduled.

The fact he mentioned it at the first sign of discomfort Saturday was appreciated by the Nationals.

“I think with the MRI results, it looks like this is something we caught probably as quickly as we could’ve, so I’m glad he did say something,” Butera said. “I know the competitor he is, he didn’t want to come out of the game, obviously, with a no-hitter going. But I think the fact he brought it up and didn’t try to pitch through it may have saved him, and saved us, a little bit.”

Butera said it’s too soon to know how the Nats will fill Irvin’s rotation spot, which won’t come up again until Friday against the Padres. With a day off prior to that series, the team could theoretically skip the turn altogether, have everyone else pitch on regular rest and push back that decision until the following week against the Marlins.

Andrew Alvarez would be an obvious choice to make a start in place of Irvin, the left-hander having thrived in three long relief appearances over the last month as a piggyback arm for veterans Miles Mikolas and Zack Littell. The decision may come down to Foster Griffin’s performance today against the Braves and Littell’s performance Monday night in Cleveland, and whether or not the team needs to use Alvarez in relief.

“Game today. Series in Cleveland. Off-day. A lot still has to happen before that next start,” Butera said. “So we’ll talk through it the next few days.”