ATLANTA -- Trea Turner was sitting on the couch this past offseason watching college basketball with his wife, Kristen, when the idea came to him. It was Jimmy V Week across the sport, an annual event honoring former North Carolina State University head coach, the late Jim Valvano.

The Turners had been looking to get involved in a cause for some time, and considering they both attended NC State, they thought this was the perfect venue. After speaking with his agency, Turner pledged to donate $500 to the V Foundation for Cancer Research for each stolen base this season. Turner’s commitment extends to a partnership with the Inova Children’s Hospital. He has hosted children at Nationals Park and made a pair of hospital visits to children dealing with cancer.

Turner joined all of Major League Baseball on Saturday by wearing a gold-ribbon decal or wristband in order to spread awareness of childhood cancer. The Braves held a special ceremony on the field at SunTrust Park prior to Saturday's game with the Nationals.

“It’s awesome because you walk in the room, some of the kids know who you are, some of the kids have zero idea,” Turner said. “But for the most part, there’s always a smile on their face. That’s what I care about. I don’t care if the kid knows me, but if I can walk in a room or hand out a little backpack or a gown or whatever it is … and bring a smile and make their day a little bit better, that’s what sticks out to me.”

Turner made a visit to the Inova Children’s Hospital to hand out goody bags and baseball-themed hospital gowns before Tuesday’s game against the Mets. He has stolen 31 bases on the season, the fourth most in the Majors despite missing roughly six weeks with a fractured right index finger. As of Saturday, he has pledged to donate a total of $42,109.

The injury will hinder Turner’s stolen-base total for the season, but he never set a goal for himself before the season began, hoping to contribute anyway he could.

“Hopefully this last month, we can get a few more,” Turner said.

MRI reveals Grade 1 hamstring strain for Elias
Nationals left-hander Roenis Elias has a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring, manager Dave Martinez revealed Saturday after getting the results of Elias’ MRI. Elias is headed back to Washington to meet with a team doctor to be further evaluated.

The injury is similar to the one Elias suffered last month, shortly after being acquired by the Nats, which caused him to miss just over three weeks. Elias has been optimistic that this injury is less significant, but he is still expected to be out for an extended period of time.

“He’s a little less sore than he was last time,” Martinez said. “So that’s a good sign, but we’ll know more after he sees a doctor.”

The injury leaves the Nationals with a void from the left side in their bullpen, a role they have been unable to fill all season. Tony Sipp was signed during Spring Training as their lefty specialist, but in 36 games, he posted a 4.71 ERA before being released. Matt Grace could not repeat a strong 2018 and scuffled to a 6.36 ERA in 51 games before getting designated for assignment last week. So the team acquired Elias before the Trade Deadline, but he has been either injured or ineffective. Six of the 13 batters he’s faced with the Nats have reached safely.

The hole could prompt Martinez to perhaps keep Sean Doolittle out of the closer role and use him as the lone left-hander in the bullpen to match up in high-leverage situations late in the game. Martinez has previously committed to returning Doolittle to the closer role, but on Saturday, he hinted he could use him and right-hander Daniel Hudson to match up late in games.

“For right now, yeah, I’d love for [Doolittle] to have a good couple weeks … and get him back in that closer’s role, depending on the matchups,” Martinez said. “He may have to pitch the ninth inning, if there’s lefties in the ninth, and Hudson can pitch the eighth. We’ll work it that way. But he understands, we talked about it, so we’ll go from there.”

Worth noting
The situation at second base has developed into a platoon with Asdrúbal Cabrera receiving more playing time than Brian Dozier. Howie Kendrick is also expected to remain in that mix, but Dozier is more likely to start against lefties and be used in pinch-hitting appearances and as a defensive replacement.