The Nationals optioned Tena to Triple-A Rochester after Sunday's 3-1 loss to Miami, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
Tena earned a spot on the Nationals' Opening Day roster but had yet to make much of a splash through the first two-plus months of the season, slashing .248/.325/.365 with zero home runs, two stolen bases, 18 runs and 13 RBI over 154 plate appearances. The 24-year-old had been occupying the strong side of a platoon at third base with Amed Rosario, but the Nationals will call up prospect Brady House from Triple-A on Monday and are likely to deploy him as an everyday player at the hot corner.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Idle again Sunday
Rotowire
Tena is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers.
Tena will hit the bench for the fourth time in five games, with all of his absences coming against left-handed starting pitchers. The Rangers are having southpaw Jacob Latz serve as an opener for Sunday's contest, so Tena could end up subbing in for Amed Rosario once Latz exits the contest.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Sitting against another lefty
Rotowire
Tena is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
Tena will take a seat for the second day in a row while the Giants send another left-handed starting pitcher to the bump in Robbie Ray. Amed Rosario will get the nod at third base Sunday, and he and Tena will continue to work in a platoon, potentially until Paul DeJong (orbital) returns from the injured list.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Bangs out two doubles in win
Rotowire
Tena went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI in Wednesday's win over the Mets.
The 24-year-old has been filling in at second base the last two games while Luis Garcia (paternity leave) has been away from the team, leaving third base to Amed Rosario. Tena should shift back to the strong side of a platoon at the hot corner once Garcia is back, but his hold on the job may be tenuous. Through 10 games in May, Tena is batting just .214 (6-for-28) with one steal, one run and three RBI, and he's still looking for his first homer of 2025.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Taking seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Tena is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Guardians.
Tena appears to be occupying the strong side of a platoon at third base with the right-handed-hitting Amed Rosario, who will get the start Wednesday while the Guardians send southpaw Logan Allen to the hill. Since Paul DeJong (orbital) went on the injured list April 16 to open up playing time at the hot corner, Tena is slashing .235/.264/.333 with zero home runs and stolen bases and seven RBI over 15 games.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Sitting in second straight game
Rotowire
Tena is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.
After heading to the bench for Saturday's 11-6 win while Nick Lodolo took the hill for Cincinnati, the lefty-hitting Tena will remain on the bench Sunday against a right-handed starter (Nick Martinez). The Nationals had given Tena a look as their primary third baseman after Paul DeJong (orbital) landed on the injured list in mid-April, but Tena may be falling out of favor after going 0-for-13 with a walk and seven strikeouts over his last four starts. Amed Rosario will get the call at third base for the second day in a row.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Three more hits Friday
Rotowire
Tena went 3-for-4 with two RBI in Friday's win over the Mets.
It's the second three-hit performance this week for Tena, who has seized a strong-side platoon role at third base with Paul DeJong (nose) sidelined. Tena's started five of the last seven games, all against right-handed pitching, and gone 8-for-20 (.400) with two doubles, a triple, three runs and five RBI.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Sitting against lefty
Rotowire
Tena isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Orioles, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.
The lefty-hitting Tena will grab a seat on the bench against southpaw Cade Povich and the Orioles. Amed Rosario will pick up a start at the hot corner and bat sixth while Tena sits.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Three XBH in Tuesday's win
Rotowire
Tena went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and a run scored in Tuesday's 7-0 win over the Orioles.
The Nats scalded the ball all night, with 10 of their 14 hits going for extra bases in a 7-0 rout, and Tena led the way with three of them. The 24-year-old has started three of the last four games, and with Washington looking to get some production from the hot corner, manager Dave Martinez suggested after Tuesday's contest that Tena could move into a strong-side platoon role at third base while Paul DeJong (nose) remains on the shelf, per Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Wins bench job
Rotowire
Tena earned a spot on the Nationals' Opening Day roster, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.
The 24-year-old was competing for a bench job during spring training and secured a roster spot despite posting a .156/.240/.200 slash line in 50 plate appearances. Tena had a .668 OPS in 41 games with Washington in 2024 and is unlikely to be fantasy-relevant this year.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Competing for bench role
Rotowire
Tena is competing with Trey Lipscomb for an infield utility job and has a .156/.206/.219 slash line through 11 Grapefruit League games.
The pair appeared poised to battle for the starting job at third base to begin camp, but the Nationals then signed Paul DeJong in mid-February. Tena had a .652 in 44 games between the Guardians and Nationals last season, and he's struggled to get on track during spring action.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Out of Washington lineup
Rotowire
Tena is absent from the lineup for Friday's game against the Phillies, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
It's a day off for the left-handed-hitting Tena with the Phillies starting southpaw Ranger Suarez. Ildemaro Vargas will start at third base and bat seventh.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Swipes bag, tallies RBI in loss
Rotowire
Tena went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base in Thursday's loss to the Cubs.
Tena drove home James Wood with a two-out single in the top of the third before going on to steal his sixth base of the campaign. The shortstop would then add a leadoff single in the sixth to give him his sixth multi-hit performance this month. Tena has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games, batting .309 (17-for-55) over that stretch with one homer, five RBI, five runs and five stolen bases.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Missing another start
Rotowire
Tena (thumb) is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
Tena will sit out again while he recovers from a fingernail issue on his right thumb, which stems from being struck by a groundball in Sunday's loss to the Angels. Ildemaro Vargas will fill in at third base for Tena, who can be viewed as day-to-day heading into the Nationals' four-game series with the Phillies that begins Thursday.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: X-rays return negative
Rotowire
Tena (thumb) had X-rays come back negative after leaving Sunday's game against the Angels and is dealing with a fingernail issue, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.
The 23-year-old made his second straight start at third base Sunday but exited during the fourth inning when he was struck in the right hand by a hard grounder. Tena has avoided a serious injury and should be considered day-to-day.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Exits early with thumb injury
Rotowire
Tena was removed in the fourth inning of Sunday's game against the Angels due to an apparent right thumb injury, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports. He went hitless in his lone at-bat before departing.
Making a second straight start at third base after he went 2-for-4 with two RBI in his Nationals debut Saturday, Tena's day was cut short when he took a hard grounder off his throwing hand. The play went down as an error, and Tena was immediately lifted from the game in favor of Ildemaro Vargas while his thumb was bleeding profusely. The Nationals should have an update on Tena's condition later Sunday.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Recalled by Washington
Rotowire
The Nationals recalled Tena from Triple-A Rochester on Saturday, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.
Tena was part of the package the Nationals received when they traded Lane Thomas to the Guardians on July 29. In Triple-A this season, Tena is slashing .287/.344/.480 with 15 stolen bases, 60 runs scored, 18 home runs and 68 RBI across 448 plate appearances. To make room for Tena on the 26-man roster, the Nationals optioned Trey Lipscomb to Rochester.
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Nationals' Jose Tena: Headed to Washington
Rotowire
Washington acquired Tena, infielder Rafael Ramirez and left-hander Alex Clemmey from Cleveland on Monday in exchange for outfielder Lane Thomas, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports.
Tena will head to Washington after producing a .295 average with 17 home runs, 63 RBI, 54 runs scored and 14 stolen bases over 90 games with Triple-A Columbus this season. The 23-year-old will likely report to Triple-A Rochester with his new organization, but he'll have a good shot at seeing time in the majors later on this season.
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Guardians' Jose Tena: Optioned to Columbus
Rotowire
The Guardians optioned Tena to Triple-A Columbus on Thursday.
Tena didn't hit well in 18 major-league games last season, and his struggles have followed him into spring training with a .219/.289/.281 slash line. Tena has played in just 20 Triple-A games in his career, so perhaps spending more time in the minors to develop will help establish himself at the plate.
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Guardians' Jose Tena: Not hitting well in spring
Rotowire
Tena has gone 4-for-18 with two RBI, one run scored, four walks and two strikeouts over 12 Cactus League games.
Tena is at least getting a long look as a reserve infielder, but he hasn't posted the results to justify winning a roster spot. He's also showing a solid eye at the plate, which is encouraging after he struck out 13 times in 34 plate appearances following his call-up last season. Tena's easiest path to the major-league roster would be at shortstop, but Gabriel Arias (illness), Brayan Rocchio and Tyler Freeman are also contenders to see at-bats there. It may be better for Tena's development for him to start the year at Triple-A Columbus.
