Some old news and some new news this morning while making the sweep of the transaction reports.
First, the old news: Brad Peacock has been promoted from AA Harrisburg to AAA Syracuse, with OF Bryce Harper taking his spot on the Senators roster by virtue of being activated from the Temporary Inactive List. Peacock was 10-2 for Harrisburg with a 2.01 ERA, a 0.86WHIP, and 129Ks in 98⅔ innings, all of which were in the top 5 for the Eastern League this season. He’s expected to make his first start this Saturday against Lehigh Valley.
Now, the new news: As predicted in the comments, Nathan Karns has been freed from Viera and promoted to Auburn. Karns, a 12th-round 2009 draft pick that signed at the deadline, missed the 2010 season with an unspecified injury. This year, he’s made five appearances without a decision in the GCL, pitching 18⅔ innings, allowing two (2) hits, no (0) runs, six walks and compiling 26 strikeouts. He’s expected to join the Doubledays rotation, starting perhaps as soon as Monday, July 18th or Tuesday, July 19th.
In other transactions, RHP Anthony Marcelino was placed in the 60-day DL for the GCL Nationals, a move that typically signifies season-ending surgery.
UPDATE: J.C. Romero has been given his unconditional release, a option that apparently was his if the Nationals weren’t going to activate him by July 15. Minutes later, he signed a minor-league contract with the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, the other predicted move — Oliver Perez being taken off the TIL to take Peacock’s spot in the rotation — has now officially been announced, with Jonathan Tucker going on the DL, retroactive to July 12 (which begs the question: Who’s next?) to keep the Harrisburg roster at 24.