Washington Nationals

Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth, who has already missed 16 days on the disabled list, visited a specialist in Chicago to further diagnose his strained right hamstring, Manager Davey Johnson said. The Nationals long expected Werth to return today, but after … Continue reading →

Nationals left-handed reliever Zach Duke will replace Ross Detwiler on Monday in San Francisco, becoming the first rotation replacement the Nationals needed this season. The Nationals are awaiting results of a third MRI Detwiler underwent this afternoon on the right … Continue reading →

Jordan Zimmermann will try to become the first major league to reach eight wins as the Nationals attempt to win their four-game series against the Padres. Before the game, Ryan Zimmerman shared what looked an amiable conversation with the Petco … Continue reading →

Bryce Harper will miss tonight’s game against the Padres and possibly tomorrow with bruising and swelling in his left knee, one of several lingering effects from his violent collision with the right field wall at Dodger Stadium on Monday in … Continue reading →

And so, Bryce Harper is out of the Nationals lineup for Saturday night's game due to a bruised left knee. Sounds like he'll miss the rest of the weekend in San Diego: Bryce Harper will miss today and likely tomorrow with a bruised left knee. He had an MRI on his abdomen yesterday, which came back clean. — Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 18, 2013 Bryce Harper said his left knee is barking a little, still sore from wall collision. Thinking a day or two. Wants to be ready for SF — Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 18, 2013 Meanwhile, Jayson Werth is off to Chicago to see yet another doctor about his hammy... Befriend Nats Enquirer on Facebook. Follow on Twitter. Related articles Bryce Harper and Johnny Manziel hug it out at Petco Park Bryce Harper runs into Dodger Stadium wall, leaves game shaken up and bleeding... Video: Davey Johnson on Bryce Harper's crash into Dodger Stadium wall Bryce Harper felt carsick today, but was most upset about having to shave his beard Video: Bryce Harper's new GEICO commercial

Count me among those surprised that as hard as Bryce Harper hit the right field fence in Dodger Stadium earlier this week, he was able to get back into the lineup. According to reports today, there are some lingering effects. Harper's out of the lineup tonight with what reporters on the scene in San Diego say is a sore left knee: Bryce Harper will miss today and likely tomorrow with a bruised left knee. He had an MRI on his abdomen yesterday, which came back clean. — Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 18, 2013 Bryce Harper said his left knee is barking a little, still sore from wall collision. Thinking a day or two. Wants to be ready for SF — Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 18, 2013 Bryce Harper is not playing today becauseof a sore left knee. #Nats #Nationals #MLB — William Ladson (@washingnats) May 18, 2013 It's not all that surprising, considering Nats' GM Mike Rizzo, in an interview earlier this week on 160.7 the FAN in D.C., compared the bruising Harper sustained in the collision as being similar to that which one suffers in a car accident: "He's sore like any kind of accident you get into. It's kind of a little bit like if you get into a car crash or something, get into a fender bender where you just get jostled or an airbag hits you or something like that, you're just sore and that's where he's at right now." "He's sore on the left side of his body, which is the side that took the brunt of the collision, but other than that, once the soreness is gone he'll be able to perform for us." Harper returned to the lineup and went 2 for 9 with a home run in the last three games, but he's not going to be in the lineup tonight. As for other injury updates, here's what the Twittering class had to report tonight: Jayson Werth now gone to Chicago to see another specialist, Davey said. Hammy still tightening when he breaks out of box. Aiming for Fri — Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 18, 2013 Jayson Werth seeing a specialist in Chicago for hamstring, will return Friday at earliest. — Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 18, 2013 Ross Detwiler had a third MRI done today & another specialist will look at it. Then #nats will know extent of injury. — Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 18, 2013 Here's tonight's lineup: Today's lineup at SDP: Span, CF; Lombardozzi, LF; Zimmerman, 3B; LaRoche, 1B; Desmond, SS; Moore, RF; Espinosa, 2B; Suzuki, C; Zimmermann, P — Nationals PR (@NationalsPR) May 18, 2013 Game Time 8:40 pm EST tonight from San Diego

Washington Nationals' right-hander Jordan Zimmermann had a 1-0 lead before he even took the mound last time out. A Ryan Zimmerman RBI single in the top of the first in Los Angeles gave him a lead to work with. The Nats' 26-year-old right-hander left a 2-0 pitch up for Dodgers' left-handed slugger Adrian Gonzalez to line to right for a two-out single in the home-half of the first, but that was the only hit he allowed in his first two innings of work on the mound in Dodger Stadium Tuesday night. A two-run double by Zimmerman and an RBI single by Adam LaRoche made it 4-0 Nationals early in LA, and though Zimmermann had a lead to work with all the way in what ended up a 6-2 win, the start was not without its adversity. "I think when the guy was on third with no outs and he got out of that," Johnson told reporters, "just shows you what kind of pitcher [Jordan Zimmermann] is." - Davey Johnson on Jordan Zimmermann A leadoff single by Nick Punto in third was erased with a double play grounder in the second at bat of a scoreless, 15-pitch inning. Speedy Dodgers' leadoff man Dee Gordon singled to start the fourth, stole second and took third on a throwing error by Zimmermann's catcher, Kurt Suzuki. With a runner on third and no one out, Zimmermann plowed through the middle of the LA lineup, popping up Adrian Gonzalez, striking out Matt Kemp and getting over to cover first on a sharp grounder to LaRoche by Andre Ethier that the Nats' Gold Glove-winning first baseman somehow snagged. A leadoff triple on which Bryce Harper had his run-in with the right field fence put a runner on third to start the second straight inning in the bottom of the fifth, and that one scored for one of the two runs Zimmermann allowed that night. The Nationals' 2007 second round pick pitched around a leadoff double in the sixth and another leadoff single in the seventh. Three of the Dodgers' nine hits on the night came in the eighth, when he gave up another run before he was lifted with his team up 6-2 in what ended up his seventh win of the season once Tyler Clippard finished the eighth and Drew Storen pitched a scoreless ninth. Your browser does not support iframes. Asked if he was impressed with his pitcher's ability to work out of trouble all night after the game, Nationals' manager Davey Johnson pointed back to the threat in the fourth and the way Zimmermann worked around a runner on third with no outs as the perfect example of what the Wisconsin-born starter is all about. "I think when the guy was on third with no outs and he got out of that," Johnson told reporters, "just shows you what kind of pitcher he is." "He pitched a great ballgame," Johnson said afterwards, "Another great ballgame. Probably got a little bit tired there at the end, but heck of a ballgame, you know, he's been outstanding." "I feel like I haven't changed anything all year, or changed anything from last year, and it's just the way the ball is bouncing right now." - Jordan Zimmermann on early season success Through eight starts this season, Zimmermann is (7-1) after the win in Los Angeles, with a 1.69 ERA, 2.64 FIP, nine walks (4.0 BB%) and 39 Ks (17.3 K%) over 58.2 IP so far in 2013. While the Nats' right-hander has garnered more and more attention from the national baseball press over the last few seasons, after the win in LA, he said that he really isn't pitching differently than he has in the past and though he may appear more sure of his ability to get major league hitters out, confidence has never been a problem for the pitcher. "I've always been confident," Jordan Zimmermann told reporters after the start against the Dodgers, "And I feel like I haven't changed anything all year, or changed anything from last year, and it's just the way the ball is bouncing right now. And I'm pitching to contact, throwing strikes and I feel if I keep that up I'm going to have a lot more quality starts." The results of his approach so far in 2013? A 49.4% ground ball per

Photo by USA TodayThough it took extra innings last night, the Nationals beat the Padres for their second straight win and will now look for three in a row with Jordan Zimmermann on the mound. The Nats' right-hander leads the majors in wins with seven and will look for his eighth against a club he has had success against in the past. Zimmermann has started three games against San Diego, holding a 1.42 ERA across 19 innings pitched. He has taken the mound twice at Petco Park, going 1-0 with a 0.69 mark.Pitching for the Padres will be 33-year-old lefthander Eric Stults. Stults split time with the White Sox and Padres last year and posted a 2.91 ERA through 99 innings. This year, however, he has struggled with a 4.57 mark in eight starts.Stults will be making his first career start against the Nationals. The only two Nats that have faced him in their career are Dan Haren and Adam LaRoche. LaRoche is in the lineup tonight and is 0-for-2 against the lefty in two plate appearances.One standout of the Nats' lineup is the absence of Bryce Harper, I will try and update this as more information comes out.Enjoy the game...WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN DIEGO PADRESWhere: Petco ParkGametime: 8:40 p.m. EDTTV: MASN, WUSA 9, MLB.tvRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500), XM 188Weather: Partly cloudy, 64 degrees, Wind 7 mph LF to RFNATIONALS (23-19)CF Denard SpanLF Steve Lombardozzi3B Ryan Zimmerman1B Adam LaRocheRead more »

Before Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson told reporters last night that the second MRI on Ross Detwiler's back showed that he had an issue in the "oblique area" it was fairly clear that the 27-year-old lefty was not going to make his next scheduled start on Monday night in San Francisco. Nats' GM Mike Rizzo stated as much openly during an interview on MLB Network Radio on Friday afternoon. "[Detwiler] hasn't thrown his side or his bullpen in between starts," Rizzo told hosts Jim Bowden and Casey Stern, "so we'll make some decisions on who is going to fill in for his start on Monday." When Mr. Stern asked if the Nationals would look to someone on the big league roster to fill in for Detwiler or if they'd reach down to the minors for a replacement, Rizzo said it depended on the severity of the injury to Detwiler's lower back/oblique. "I think we'll make that decision when we get a prognosis of where Det's at," the general manager explained, "If it's just a miss one start type of thing, we may fill it from our bullpen, but if it's going to be a DL type of thing, we may go down to the minor leagues and get a starter for a couple starts." "We don't think it's overly too serious though," Rizzo added. The decision the Nationals announced this afternoon would seem to support that last diagnosis. Washington Times' writer Amanda Comak noted on Twitter that upon arriving at Petco Park where the Nationals will play the third game of their four-game set with San Diego tonight, that Zach Duke was spotted in the bullpen throwing a side session. The official announcement came just a little while later with several reporters on the scene tweeting the news: Zach Duke is indeed starting for the #nats on Monday vs the #giants in Ross Detwiler's place. — Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 18, 2013 Left-hander Zach Duke will start for the #Nats on Monday.LHP Ross Detwiler will miss his start because of a lower back injury #MLB — William Ladson (@washingnats) May 18, 2013 Your Monday Nats starter vs. SFG: Zach Duke — Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 18, 2013 Though Duke was struggled in his role in the Nats' bullpen, with an 8.40 ERA, a 4.42 FIP, four walks (2.40 BB/9) and 10 Ks (6.00 K/9) in 15.0 IP, he spent the bulk of the season as a starter at Triple-A in 2012, going (15-5) with a 3.51 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 39 walks (2.14 BB/9) and 91 Ks (4.98 K/9) in 26 starts and 164.1 IP for the Syracuse Chiefs before he was called up in September to work out of the bullpen as the Nationals locked up the NL East crown. When he takes the mound Monday night it will be his first major league start since July 10, 2011 when he was with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the 169th start of his career.

Attention was drawn to Arlington, Tex., on Thursday night for a duel between two of the best pitchers in the world, the Tigers’ Justin Verlander and the Rangers’ Yu Darvish. The matchup fizzled quickly, as Verlander was lifted with two … Continue reading →