The Nationals have placed outfielder Alex Call on the 10-day disabled list with a partial left plantar fascia injury. As first reported by The Nats Report, catcher Drew Millas will be promoted from Triple-A to replace Call on the active roster.
In the second inning of the Nationals’ 3-2 loss to the Braves on Friday, Call collapsed to the ground in apparent discomfort and had to be taken off the field. As bad as the injury appeared, Call told reporters that he had been trying to play through a bout of plantar fasciitis. Talk Nats reported early Saturday that an MRI indeed indicated a fascia rupture rather than original concerns of a torn Achilles or a broken foot.
Call will consult with a physician to assess how to best proceed with therapy, and because the Nationals are not in contention, it is possible that Call will be shut down for the rest of the season if his recuperation period extends too close to the end of the campaign. Some fascia injuries can be beneficial overall because a clean tear would alleviate Call’s chronic foot soreness, but the Nats’ assessment of the injury as a partial tear raises some concerns about his predicament.
It’s a devastating blow for Call, who has quietly been one of baseball’s hottest hitters since Washington promoted him from Triple-A in July. Between this hot streak and a seven-game stint on the Nationals’ roster earlier this season, Call is hitting.343/.425/.525 with three homers in 113 plate appearances in 2024. A hefty.403 BABIP is providing a lot of the heavy lifting on that production, but Call has been contributing by making a lot of contact and getting on base with a 10.6% walk rate.
After Lane Thomas was moved to the Guardians at the deadline, Call took over the everyday right field position and established his place in the lineup with his scorching bat. In terms of how D.C. will fill the void now that Call is injured, the replacement will arrive on Monday, when star prospect Dylan Crews makes his major league debut. Call’s IL placement did not impact the timeframe on Crews’ promotion, so Joey Gallo or Ildemaro Vargas are expected to assume right field duties this weekend until Crews comes Monday.
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