Hairston activated off DL; Souza Jr sent to Triple-A
Scott Hairston
The Washington Nationals announced the activation of Scott Hairston off the disable list today along with optioning Steve Souza Jr to Triple-A. Hairston is coming off the DL from an oblique strain suffered in the first week of the season. While only having two at bats this year Hairston serves as a veteran pinch hitter off the bench that along with Kevin Frandsen and Nate Mclouth will fill in for the injured Bryce Harper in left field.
Hairston last year proved to be a great pick up for the Nationals midway through the season as he went on to hit 10 home runs and bat .214 against lefties. While batting only .097 against right handed pitches National faithful will see Hairston used mainly spot starts against left handed pitchers and late inning pinch hit situation as brings a power bat off the bench. As a pinch hitter last year in 42 chances he hit 3 home runs and batted .238 which was the best average mark from the Nationals bench last year.
The ten year player will add his veteran leadership to the bench that has been missing from the team since the departure of Chad Tracy this offseason. Now with him not being in today lineup against the Los Angeles Dodgers and right handed starting pitcher Zack Greinke does not mean he won’t pinch hit later on in the game as he is a career .375 hitter against the Dodgers setup reliever, Brain Wilson. Hairston could also make a start later on in this three game series as Clayton Kershaw could be returning from his stint on the DL sometime in this series and with Hairston hitting 8 for 22 against the CY Young winner. Scott Hairston will look to provide some pop off the bench that has been showed few times this year with only two home runs in pinch hit situations from the Nationals this year.
