You know, the Nats weren't shut out for the first 86 games of the year. In the last 20 they've been shutout 4 times. Also in the last 20 they've scored 10 or more four times.
As the Post notes, just when you thought it was safe to go back to the bullpen, Enny Romero is probably off to the DL. What we assumed was back issues, something he's dealt with recently in his career, the word is it's forearm "tightness". Neither is good but forearm tightness could be really bad. Whether you liked Enny or not, he was certainly in the rotation of guys that could be brought out at some point in games that were still in question. So his loss would hurt.
Since we're talking about injuries - where does everyone else stand?
Strasburg - "elbow impingment" - Waiting to throw an "intense" bullpen session before returning. He threw a regular bullpen and they liked what they saw, suggesting he could make that next start, but have back-pedalled since then.
Scherzer - "stiff neck" - Had been dealing with it before the Marlins game but thought he could get through it. Expected to make next start as of today. Will see a chiropractor. Hey, whatever works for you.
Turner - broken wrist - Down in Florida starting recovery, but only at soft toss, some fielding now. No timetable on return though original thinking of late August seems to be still target.
Werth - broken toe - Has sloooooowly gotten back to baseball activites. He starting hitting about a week ago, started running on treadmills a day or two ago. Will start doing some simulated game action soon. If that goes well should see a couple minor league games before heading back up to the majors. So could be late next week if nothing derails plan.
MAT - oblique strain - began rehab in Potomac. 3 games in and everything seems fine. Dusty suggested that Werth might be back before MAT so they may take it slow with Taylor, but early indications make it seem like sometime in the next two weeks is a certainty.
Koda Glover - rotator cuff inflammation - began throwing again in early July but just recently got back to 90 feet. Still on flat ground. A return in August seems unlikely, but September hasn't been ruled out.
Shawn Kelley - rehabbing in Syracuse. In two appearances has given up a home run in each one. Expect Nats to wait until he gets 2-3 good outings in a row to bring him back. Could be as early as early next week.
Joe Ross - Tommy John - had surgery in mid-July. They thought it went well. Should be back sometime next season but maybe 2019.
Adam Eaton - torn ACL - said a couple months ago he was "ahead of schedule" but nothing uttered since. Given even then the suggestion was 2017 was still out the silence suggests there's no reasons to change anything up. 2018.
Stephen Drew - abdominal strain - Just placed on the DL recently. Was not performing well so there's no real hurry to get him back. Expectation probably has him moving from 10 day to long-term if Kendrick and Difo keep looking good, and Turner's rehab goes as expected.
Ryan Raburn - shoulder - Does it really matter? Could have returned yesterday. Do you see him? Raburn will be back from the DL whenever the Nats think they need to bring him back from the DL.
For those lazy - if all goes well here is the return timetable
WITHIN A WEEK
Scherzer - presumably next start
Kelley - whenever they feel he's ready
Raburn - if they care to
WITHIN TWO WEEKS
Werth - late next week
Strasburg - supposedly he'd make his next start around late next week as well
MAT - probably early the week after that
AUGUST
Drew - if they want him he should be ready to go
Turner - maaaybe at the tail end of the month
SEPTEMBER
Glover - remains a possiblity
2018
Eaton - should be back for start of season
Ross - current TJ rehab cycles suggest we'd see him very late in 2018.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
I'd say with the amount of injuries we've suffered Dusty should be up for at least discussion for manager of the year. But given how awesome the middle of the lineup has been and how fucking fantastic the Dodgers have been there's like a zero chance of that happen. In fact if I was a betting man I would bet on the Dodgers sweeping the NL awards just because we have too many guys on our squad who would split the votes.
Heard on the radio broadcast last night that the Lynchburg Hillcats' manager intentionally walked MAT twice during a rehab start, in retaliation for the P-Nats walking Sicnarf Loopstok (that's a real name) when backward-Francis had a chance to hit for the cycle. The idiom "bush league" has its roots in reality, it seems.
The Nats offense is like a contagion. Seems like they all pile on together, or they all look old and tired together. They made Vance Worley (read "the Jeremy Guthrie long man spot in spring training") look like Cy Young. They'll go another hitless game and a half, then explode for 6 or 7 runs, then go back to somnambulating. Thank goodness for a big lead in a crappy division.
There are only two scenarios where Raburn will ever play another game for this team:
- Someone gets hurt in August, or
- He gets added to the active roster when they expand in September
He's not in the discussion at this time for the post-season roster, and with Kendrick here and MAT and Werth soon to return, I don't see a need for him.
Who or what do we need to sacrifice to get the baseball gods to stop punching us in the mouth?
Off topic - anyone else here bothered by this 2:20 start time tomorrow?
Chris - that's a typical Wrigley field start time. It's ok to be bothered by it, but there are always more day games at Wrigley than other places and they often start at 1:20 Central.
Ok, I get it. I was really looking forward to watching tomorrow's game in particular to see how we would bounce back after this disappointing Miami series. But I don't get off work till 5.
@Jimmy: Joe Posnanski wrote pretty favorably about Dusty yesterday: https://medium.com/joeblogs/dusty-roads-ecbd8caaff6d
Jimmy - He'll be in there but winning over 100 is almost assured at putting you in, at least the first time. Dusty's best hope is a late season Dodger swoon. Just for kicks I see ROY - Bellinger, CY ... Kershaw if he's within 20 IP of Max, otws Max, MVP - honestly, I'll go with Goldschmidt.
JE34 - Who's "bush league" here? I mean if the game isn't on the like walking a guy going for the cycle in the minors is pretty bush league too.
SomeGuy - yeah I expect both Raburn and Drew to be on the DL somehow until expanded rosters
Anon - 8:20 - stop relying on injury prone players? It's a bit of a joke but Stras, Koda, Werth, Kelley, Romero are all unsurprisingly DL members. You'd expect a couple more too just because that's how a season rolls. The Eaton injury is the one that stands out as most unfair.
@Harper - Is your Goldy pick because of some weird Bryce/Rendon cancelling each other out calculus? Like neither of them could be MVP because if one went down the other's still there, so Goldschmidt is that much more valuable?
Because barring that, I can't see any reason why he'd beat out Rendon. wRC+ with in 5 points of each other, but one of them is the best defensive 3B in the league and the other one doesn't crack the top 5 at 1B
BJD - Sort of. MVPs are made through comparison to other teams and comparisons within their own teams. How valuable a player are you and how valuable a player are you to your team. (forget for a moment the discussion of what constitutes value in regards to the playoffs). Goldschmidt is essentially THE player for the Diamondbacks, carrying the offensive side of the team on his back with no true peer in the pitching staff. Rendon/Bryce/Scherzer, Rizzo/Bryant, Turner/Seager/Kershaw, Arenando/Blackmon all have other players who's value diminishes their own in a way.
Also - I'm fine with this kind of decision making (1) because it's just a silly award, and (2) because I want arguments about what is value. If you want a plug & play answer then it shouldn't be a vote. A vote means you are taking an opinion poll. We should accept and embrace that, not try to reduce it.
I'm with you. I similarly enjoy the arguments of what constitutes MVP, above and beyond the consideration of individual players. I guess my use of the term "weird" belies my position on this particular point :)
Just thought of this analogy which I think encapsulates Harper's position. If a ballclub is a stool, the Diamondbacks' just has one leg. The Nationals/Dodgers stools are built on 3 legs, so removing one doesnt have the same effects as it would on the D'backs
The diamonbacks have more than just goldschmidt. they have greinke, robbie ray, and godley has been a good number three starters. Plus in the lineup they have pollock, lamb, and just picked up jd martinez for peanuts. And the teammates stealing votes from each other is overrated. One of harper and tony (number of bases) bags will probably distance themselves. Also with all his uproar over moving rendon up to the 2 hole. why not just move everyone in the lineup up one spot so you have a great 2 hitter (harper) and rendon is still protecting murphy
Anon - what were you saying about Goldschmidt? (Rare time where what I write isn't immediately thrown back in my face)
Post a Comment