Acta wants more out of his bullpen

NEW YORK — Since losing Chad Cordero to a right shoulder injury, Washington Nationals manager Manny Acta has found himself relying on three relievers to get him through key, late-inning situations: Jon Rauch, Luis Ayala and Saul Rivera.

Those three arms, though, only stretch so far, which is why Acta wouldn’t mind if another member of his bullpen stepped up and earned his manager’s trust to pitch in some of those situations.

“I wish the six of them could do the same thing,” Acta said. “It’s every manager’s dream. But it is very important that we can find a fourth one or a fifth one. … Those guys are going to have to pitch some more meaningful innings in order for us to be successful and to save those guys’ arms a little bit, too.”

Perhaps Chris Schroder, who rejoined the bullpen for last night’s game against the New York Mets, could fulfill that request. The right-hander was recalled from Class AAA Columbus after posting a 1.26 ERA in 10 games, earning three saves along the way.

Schroder has enjoyed some big league success already, going 2-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 37 games with the Nationals in 2007 and earlier this season. He also has proved adept at pitching his way out of tight situations — at Columbus, opponents were 0-for-18 against him with runners in scoring position — and Acta said he will get a chance in more spots like that here.

Since making his big league debut in 2006, Schroder has bounced between Washington and its Class AAA affiliate. He says he has begun to get used to the up-and-down process, which can be mentally draining.

“Obviously when you’re down there it’s not like walking out into Shea Stadium,” the 29-year-old said. “You’ve got to make sure you still have that adrenaline and find a way to keep it going to stay in the game. But you know you’re still working to get here. If [I did] well, I knew I was going to get back.”

Who’s got Thursday?

The Nationals still haven’t named their starting pitcher for Thursday’s series finale against the Mets, and Acta wasn’t dropping any hints yesterday.

But one of the hurlers in the mix for the assignment, Matt Chico, is preparing as if he’s going to get the call.

Chico, who was demoted from the rotation to the bullpen last week after going 0-5 in six starts, said he continues to approach his job as if he were a starter.

“All I know is a starter’s mentality,” he said. “That’s how I’m going off this. I don’t know really how to approach anything as a reliever. I’m only four days into it. So everything to me right now is a starter’s mentality.”

Team officials have been impressed with Chico’s work in his two bullpen appearances but might not be ready to thrust him back into the rotation. The other leading candidate to get the call is right-hander Jason Bergmann, who has pitched well his last three starts at Columbus and would need to be bumped back only one day to line up for Thursday’s assignment.