Nationals drop Detwiler from NLDS roster; Giants drop Morse

By foxsports
Published

WASHINGTON -- Left-hander Ross Detwiler was left off the Washington Nationals' roster for their NL Division Series against the San Francisco Giants, while former closer Rafael Soriano made the 25-man cut Friday.

San Francisco outfielder Michael Morse, who played for Washington from 2009-12, was not on the Giants' roster. He hit .279 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs this season, but he's taken only two at-bats since Aug. 31, because of a strained oblique muscle.

Right-handers Tim Hudson and Ryan Vogelsong, who were not active for the Giants' 8-0 wild-card victory at Pittsburgh on Wednesday, returned to the roster.

The teams had to submit their rosters about five hours before the Nationals hosted the Giants in Game 1. Both went with 12 pitchers and 13 position players.

Detwiler is a former starter who spent the regular season in the bullpen, mostly working in long relief. He went 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA in 63 innings across 47 appearances. The last time the Nationals were in the playoffs, in a 2012 NLDS against St. Louis, Detwiler started Game 4 - which Washington needed to win to avoid elimination - and allowed one unearned run in six innings.

Soriano began this season as the closer and converted 22 of 24 save opportunities with a 0.97 ERA before the All-Star break. Since then, though, he blew five of 15 save chances, and Drew Storen took over the ninth-inning role in September as Washington won the NL East and finished with a league-high 96 wins.

Nationals manager Matt Williams and general manager Mike Rizzo included reserves Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa, Kevin Frandsen and Nate Schierholtz. Backup outfielder and pinch hitter Scott Hairston, a 34-year-old hoping to be in the playoffs for the first time in his 11-year major league career, did not make the NLDS roster.

Washington's Game 1 lineup was exactly as expected, with center fielder Denard Span leading off, followed by third baseman Anthony Rendon, right fielder Jayson Werth, first baseman Adam LaRoche, shortstop Ian Desmond, left fielder Bryce Harper, catcher Wilson Ramos, second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, and right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg, set to make his postseason debut.