Nationals place Trevor Williams on IL; DJ Herz to make MLB debut Tuesday night

The Nationals are placing RHP Trevor Williams on the 15-day IL with a right flexor strain and calling up LHP DJ Herz from Triple-A Rochester, and Herz will make his MLB debut Tuesday night against the Mets.

Williams, 32, threw 95 pitches last Thursday in Atlanta and there was no indication of any injury, but he was scratched Tuesday morning after being set to face his former team. The righty is 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 1.076 WHIP in 56 2/3 innings over 11 starts this season, that ERA the best on the starting staff by more than one run.

MASN’s Mark Zuckerman broke the news just as he was getting set to join BMitch & Finlay on Tuesday, and while more won’t be known until manager Dave Martinez speaks pre-game, this is the same injury Josiah Gray suffered in April – and with Gray scheduled to face live hitters Tuesday and hopefully start a rehab assignment soon, one could extrapolate that a two-month timeline is a best-case scenario for Williams.

Herz, 23, was one of two players acquired from the Cubs last summer for Jeimer Candelario, and he was 3-2 with a 3.75 ERA in 36 innings over nine starts for Rochester.

The 2019 eighth-round pick out of high school has a 12.9 K/9 in his MiLB career, so there could be some fireworks on the mound tonight.