Ryne Harper’s bad week got a little worse on Friday, as the Nationals optioned the struggling right-hander to the alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Va. He was added back to the Nationals’ roster as the 29th man for Friday night’s game in Baltimore, but he was slated to head to Fredericksburg after allowing one run over two innings.

The Nats also selected the contract of righty Dakota Bacus.

Harper allowed five runs in one inning against the Mets on Wednesday, five days after he gave up three runs in just two-thirds of an inning against the Orioles. Harper had opened the season with five scoreless appearances before his recent shaky stretch.

“I've been using our bullpen a lot, so I thought right now would be a good time to give him a little break,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He threw the ball well for us and we need him going forward, so we just want to give him a little break.”

For Bacus -- who took part in his first-ever Major League Spring Training this year -- this marks the first time in his career he has been on an active big league roster. In eight Minor League seasons, he’s 42-25 with 28 saves and a 3.53 ERA across 225 games. A ninth-round pick by Oakland in the 2012 Draft, Bacus was acquired by the Nationals in Aug. 2013 for Kurt Suzuki, re-signing with Washington this past offseason.

“Bacus has been throwing the ball really well down there,” Martinez said. “We got good reports from them, so we just wanted to bring up a fresh arm.”

What will Doo do?
Sean Doolittle, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday with a fatigued right knee, will report to the Nationals’ alternate training site to work out until he’s ready to return.

Martinez said that rules this season mandate that injured players report to the alternate training site rather than traveling with the big league team.

“We're going to make sure that we keep close eyes on him and see where he's at,” Martinez said. “Hopefully this is a temporary thing [and] we'll get him back soon as possible.”

The Nationals want Doolittle’s knee to improve before he begins throwing, but Martinez indicated hope that the reliever’s IL stint shouldn’t be a lengthy one.

“We don't want him to develop any bad habits right now; we want him to progress,” Martinez said. “We felt like over the last couple of days, he was doing that. He was working his tail off to try to get things right. Hopefully these next 10 days, he'll figure it out and we’ll get back here to help us win some games.”