Pudge to DL, Flores to Majors

A team source for the Washington Nationals confirmed today that catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez has been placed on the 15 day disabled list due to an injury to his oblique muscle. Rodriguez suffered the injury yesterday during batting practice and was scratched from last nights line-up because of it. The Nationals have since called up Jesus Flores from Class AAA Syracuse to fill in.

Rodriguez has been solid for the Nats hitting .214 with 2 home runs, 19 RBI, and 7 doubles as backup to rookie catcher Wilson Ramos. The 39 year old catcher is 158 hits short of 3,000 for his career.

In 56 games for Class AAA Syracuse Jesus Flores was hitting .234. He has totaled 5 home runs with 30 RBI and an on base percentage of .252. Much of the last two seasons was lost due to a major shoulder injury but Flores is back at 100 percent.

The move to the DL for Rodriguez is retroactive as of his last game played in. Expect him to be back in the line-up around July 22.

Tonight the Nationals begin a 3 game series with the Colorado Rockies. The Nats just came off a successful series with the Cubs by taking 3 of 4 games. The Nats look to continue their success tonight behind the arm of John Lannan.