Washington Nationals place Nate McLouth on 15-day DL

The Washington Nationals have placed reserve outfielder Nate McLouth on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI exam on his right shoulder Monday.

Regardless of the test results, the Nationals knew McLouth would land on the disabled list and called up outfield prospect Steven Souza Jr. from Triple-A Syracuse according to the Washington Post. Souza has become one of the top prospects in the Nationals organization batting .354/.435/.601 with 70 RBI and 18 homers.

This season McLouth’s sore shoulder has affected his play. He is hitting groundballs in 52 percent of his plate apperances this season, a career high by far. He is also hitting line drives in just under 10 percent of his at-bats, easily a career low mark.

McLouth has been an expensive fourth outfielder for the Nationals. The Nationals signed McLouth to a two year $10.75 million contract in the offseason, and is batting just .173 according to NBC Sports.

McLouth has shared time with Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Denard Span in his limited time this season.