Nationals' Thaddeus Ward: Could join rotation in September

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Ward (shoulder) will make his next rehab appearance Thursday at High-A Wilmington, and the Nationals intend to stretch him out for a possible role in the rotation in September, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Taken in this year's Rule 5 draft from the Red Sox system, Ward struggled to a 7.12 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and 26:24 K:BB through his first 30.1 big-league innings, all in relief, before being sidelined in early July with shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old right-hander is seen as a possible future rotation piece however, and with the club keeping an eye on the workloads of young starters MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin, there could be an opening for Ward over the final weeks. He's hoping to build up to four innings in Thursday's game after tossing five total innings across two appearances for the Nats' FCL affiliate last week.