DJ Herz’s return to the Washington Nationals will have to wait.
While on a rehab assignment with Single-A Fredericksburg, Herz suffered a setback in his recovery from last April’s Tommy John surgery. The left-hander was scratched from Sunday’s scheduled rehab start because of forearm tightness stemming from his previous outing. An MRI ultimately revealed a flexor muscle strain, leading the club to shut him down for now.
Herz, 25, missed the entire 2025 season after being diagnosed with a partial UCL tear in late March. He made 19 starts for the Nationals the year prior, going 4-9 with a 4.16 ERA and a 10.8 K/9 rate over 88.2 innings as a rookie.
On June 5, Herz began his rehab assignment with four strikeouts over two 1-2-3 innings in the Florida Complex League. He fanned another four batters over three perfect frames at the same level on June 11 before progressing to Single-A. During his most recent outing on June 16, he allowed one run on four hits while striking out three in 2.2 innings.
"It's unfortunate because he was throwing the ball really well,” Nationals manager Blake Butera told a group of reporters, including MLB.com’s Byron Kerr. “He felt like he was getting pretty close. The stuff looked good. So, it was a little bit of a surprise. At the end of the day, we are just going to take some time now to shut it down and strengthen and recover a little bit.”
Without the setback, Herz might have been ready to return around the All-Star break. Pulling him from his rehab assignment has no immediate roster implications since he was already on the 60-day IL. However, it is now unclear when the left-hander will be back.
The Nationals entered Tuesday with a 41-38 record, putting them in a three-way tie for the final NL Wild Card spot. They currently have MLB’s highest-scoring offense, but their pitching staff has allowed the fourth-most runs in the league. Getting a healthy Herz back in the second half — whether as a starter or bulk reliever — could be pivotal to the club’s postseason push.
