Washington Nationals Place Dan Haren on DL, Return Uncertain

Dan Haren’s season hasn’t gone well thus far and now he appears headed to the DL for the forseeable future. (Image Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports)

Dan Haren’s tenure with the Washington Nationals hasn’t gotten off to a great start. In fact, he’s arguably been the worst starting pitcher in the National League on the season to date. Now the veteran right-hander finds himself on the disabled list, according to Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post, and it’s unclear just how long he’ll be on the sidelines.

The team elected to make the move early Sunday afternoon, as concerns about his mechanics have developed after yet another poor start on Saturday. Haren’s dealt with back and hip ailments before in his career – concerns that put a stop to a November trade that nearly shipped Haren to the Chicago Cubs for Carlos Marmol – and it would seem that the team believes those prior injuries are what has led to the trouble he’s seen this year. Once the deal with Chicago fell through the Angels chose to decline an option that they held on Haren for the 2013 season, allowing him to become a free agent. Washington signed him to a one year, $13 Million deal.

Haren is 4-9 with a 6.15 ERA over 82.0 IP. He’s allowed the most hits (105, 11.5 H/9), earned runs (56), and home runs (19, 2.1 HR/9) among all National League starters.

Saturday’s outing was the shortest of Haren’s season, lasing just 3.1 IP before he was pulled. Haren described the “usual aches and pains” following the game, not feeling as though there were any serious concerns but the team clearly had other plans given the production they’ve received from him. They’ll want him to be 100% physically before he returns but it remains uncertain how much time that may take. Such uncertainty could lead to the team making a move before the trade deadline to acquire another starting option.