Rutherford has elected free agency and will test the free agent waters this offseason following his removal from Washington’s 40-man roster. The 26-year-old former first-round pick got into 16 games this season for the Nationals. He’ll presumably find a new opportunity somewhere else as organizational outfield depth.

Rutherford winds up back in the majors with Travis Blankenhorn (plantar fasciitis) landing on the injured list ahead of Tuesday’s contest against the Nationals.

The 26-year-old outfielder has struggled in his limited action at the big league level this season — slashing .182/.206/.182 with no extra-base hits, two RBI and a 10/1 K/BB ratio over 34 plate appearances. He’ll look to get back on track at the Triple-A level.

The Nationals turning Stone Garrett into a full-timer could have been bad news for Rutherford, but it’s thus far led to Alex Call sitting against right-handers. Rutherford has remained in the lineup and gone 6-for-11 in his last three starts. He was 0-for-16 prior to that. Although he’s made a great deal of progress this year, it’s doubtful that Rutherford will offer much fantasy value as a platoon guy batting at the bottom of the Nationals lineup.