During his time with the Nationals, Ankiel was known for his cannon of an arm before his bat.

This morning the Nationals designated Rick Ankiel for assignment in order to make room for closer Drew Storen coming off of the disabled list. With this move the Nationals now have four bench players with an eight-man bullpen. This season Ankiel’s hit .228 in 68 games with 5 home runs and 15 RBIs.

Although the decision to part with Ankiel was “very difficult,” GM Mike Rizzo said “they are decisions you make this time of year.” He also mentioned Ankiel, who turns 33 today, took the news like a pro.

With Ankiel designated for assignment, it begs the question to how close Jayson Werth is returning from his broken wrist. The outfielder took batting practice the last several days and is expected to start a rehab assignment this Friday in Potomac.

Today the Nationals conclude their series with the Mets and go for the sweep at 12:35. Gio Gonzalez starts for the Nationals with R.A. Dickey starting for the Mets.

Other injury updates:

• Speaking of Jayson Werth, check out how his injury and recovery process has been like.
• Jhonathan Solano was placed on the disabled list with an oblique strain. The Nationals recalled catcher Sandy Leon to replace Solano.
• Ian Desmond is sitting out his fifth straight game resting his oblique injury. (That means that Lombardozzi is at 2B and Espinosa is at SS again.)
• Chad Tracy is close to returning as well. He’s been practicing with the team lately.

Ozzie Guillen considered the pine tar incident with Bryce Harper over, but really, we all know it wasn’t over until something else happened. Nothing happened in the series finale on Monday, but the Nationals found another way to insert some amusement into the whole exchange.

Adam LaRoche had Bryce Harper sign a bat for him–which isn’t unusal since players often sign for each other. From there LaRoche also signed the bat and added “To my hero, Ozzie. Love you.”

The Nationals also smeared the bat in pine tar before sending it to Guillen.

Now, we can say certainly say that the pine tar exchange is over. And people say baseball players can’t have fun?

Also, we’re waiting for a photo of that bat…

Other good stuff:

• The Nationals had a walk-off wild pitch win last night and caused a few heart palpitations along the way. It involved three blown saves between the two teams, Bryce Harper coming through in clutch, attempts to douse Ryan Zimmerman (who scored the winning run) with ice cold water, and all in all good heart-stopping chest-clutching baseball.
• Drew Storen and Jayson Werth are coming back…eventually. There’s still a little more rust to shake off.
• 2012 draft pick Lucas Giolito was in the house yesterday. He has quite a few Hollywood connections and even his own lightsaber from Samuel L. Jackson. Also good: he likes DC and we’ll be able to see what he’s capable of soon when he starts to rehab his elbow.
• Michael Morse read ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’…and didn’t like it.

After the Rays intentionally walked Adam LaRoche before Danny Espinosa, Espinosa delivered the final blow in the sixth inning, breaking the tie. The Nationals went on to win the rubber game of the series 5-2.

The move to walk LaRoche in front of Espinosa made sense to the Rays. Espinosa hit the decisive double from the left side, where he’d only been hitting .188.

“I definitely take it personal in a sense that, I want to get ’em. I want to make them pay for what they’re doing.”

Gio Gonzalez struggled early, throwing 50 pitches over the first two innings but was able to pitch into the sixth inning and earned his ninth win. After Gonzalez left the game, Craig Stammen entered to pitch the seventh and issued a leadoff walk. After two walks, Johnson brought in reliever Michael Gonzalez.

Not to be outdone by Stammen, Gonzalez also issued a walk, thus loading the bases. Johnson then brought in Ryan Mattheus, who reached a full count before he was able to get the job done, striking out Will Rhymes with two outs to leave the Rays stranded.

» Continue reading “Nationals have last laugh; take 2 of 3 from Rays”

Injury graphic on the Nationals, via Washington Post

“This team is beat up more than any one I’ve ever had.”

Davey Johnson knows the walking wounding when he sees them.

And somehow, the Nats are still in first place.  Granted, it’s just by a half game over the Braves, but don’t knock it. After having their best April ever (they ended the month with a 14-8 record), May is shaping up nicely as well. Oh, and all this is happening with some of their key players out with injuries.

Despite OintmentGate and the miscues in Strasburg’s start on Tuesday (somebody want to catch that pop up? Oh…no?), Gonzalez took control yesterday against the Pirates at home with 10 strikeouts.

He even got some offensive help from Adam LaRoche and his 1000th career hit (which included a home run and bases clearing double) and Xavier Nady(!) who hit his 100th career home run. Henry Rodriguez even decided to exercise his closer abilities and was able to keep the Pirates from causing too much damage.

The Nats went on to beat the Pirates 7-4. (Somewhere Jordan Zimmermann is asking them to save some runs for him.)

So what’s this saying? The Nats are winning. The team is coming together. And that’s with Drew Storen, Chien-Ming Wang, Brad Lidge, Michael Morse, Jayson Werth, Wilson Ramos, Mark DeRosa and Sandy Leon injured. (This isn’t including Ryan Zimmerman, who also made a DL stint earlier this season.) For the most part all the players on the DL were projected key players of the Opening Day roster. Also, the players on the DL aren’t just injured, they’re long term injuries. Expected return dates range from months to a year.

» Continue reading “The Casualties”

Baseball’s back, and that means unfortunately so are the injuries. What started off as soreness here or tightness there have morphed into long-term injuries for some of the team’s key players, who as a result, may now miss Opening Day. In addition to the injuries that are beginning to add up, the team hasn’t won a game since March 13. (That’s an 11 game streak.) So it may seem like the sky is falling, but the good thing is, Spring Training doesn’t count! Mike Rizzo remains optimistic in the current make up and doesn’t expect to make any trades that would drastically alter the roster.

As for the injuries, this is what the Nationals are dealing with thus far:

• Chien-Ming Wang: left hamstring strain.
• Adam LaRoche: bone bruise on left foot.
• Sean Burnett: back spasms.
• Rick Ankiel: tightness in left hamstring.
• Drew Storen: strep throat (earlier this week); arm soreness.
• Michael Morse: strained right lat muscle.

The Nationals are naturally exercising caution with the players even though the injuries don’t seem overwhelmingly serious. And even though the injuries aren’t too serious, because they’ve happened to so many players (and crucial players) at that, it’s becoming increasingly worrisome over their condition.

» Continue reading “Injury train, spring training edition”

Zimmerman is scheduled to return to DC in mid-June.

It’s hard to say who misses each other more—Ryan Zimmerman or the Nationals. It’s no secret that the third baseman has been a notable absence in the lineup and on the field for the team. Sure, the team’s been getting by without him, but combining their lack of offense with sometimes shaky defense only indicates that his stability’s been missed.

Zimmerman was hitting .357 in eight games for 2011 before he tore his left abdominal muscle sliding into second base versus the New York Mets.

Now one DL trip and surgery later, he’s on the cusp of a return to the Major League clubhouse. With the Nationals entering their last series of their West Coast road trip swing, it’s unlikely the third baseman returns on the road trip, but perhaps sometime during the team’s nine game home stand.

Gradually, Zimmerman’s been working his way back, starting with a stint with extended Spring Training in the beginning of June. While in Florida, Zimmerman appeared in scrimmages and took batting practice for over a week before returning to the Washington area to continue his rehab.

Zimmerman continued rehab with his first minor league rehab assignment with the Hagerstown Suns while playing with Nationals phenom prospect Bryce Harper. Zimmerman may not be quite ready for a return to the Major League roster, but the third baseman is certainly on his way—he went 2 for 2 with an RBI, 2 scored runs and made one defensive play.

» Continue reading “Zimmerman Working His Way Back”