APRIL 17: Stammen’s surgery will be Sunday, tweets Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com. Stammen has been told that his ligaments look good, but the timetable for his return is still uncertain, per Kolko. James Wagner of the Washington Post tweets that Stammen believes he will miss the remainder of the season.
APRIL 16: An MRI performed on the right elbow of right-hander Craig Stammen has revealed a torn flexor tendon that will require surgery to repair, the Nationals announced on Thursday. The unfortunate news could very well sideline Stammen for the remainder of the 2015 season, although manager Matt Williams has said the timeline will depend on the extent of the damage in the elbow (via CSN Washington’s Chase Hughes).
The 31-year-old Stammen has spent parts of the past seven seasons with the Nationals, and after struggling as a starter for the team in 2009-10 has emerged as a durable, reliable bullpen cog. From 2012-14, Stammen averaged 81 innings per season, tallying a 2.93 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 as an important member of the Nationals’ relief corps. He joins a long list of injured Nationals that currently includes bullpen-mate Casey Janssen as well as Denard Span, Anthony Rendon and Nate McLouth. Rendon and Span, at least, are projected to return to the club later this month.
The Nationals have seen their bullpen depth take a hit since the end of last season. Tyler Clippard was traded to the A’s in exchange for Yunel Escobar, Rafael Soriano (who struggled late in the year but was a generally reliable closer for much of the year prior) was not re-signed, and Janssen has yet to debut due to shoulder troubles. Blake Treinen has been moved into a prominent bullpen role in the earlygoing, and the team has also received contributions from Aaron Barrett, Tanner Roark and rookie Rafael Martin (who whiffed five hitters in an impressive two-inning debut).
So Rafael Soriano is still isn’t signed? A reunion in DC? Nats bullpen isn’t looking too swell right now.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
Nobody saying yet that this team is cursed? They’re all still busy saying that about the Rangers.
I know this isn’t TJS but it’s in the ballpark. A few days ago on the thread about Bonilla’s TJS the comments made me curious because perception is often flawed so I did some research. This is what I found.
Since 1999 Texas has had 9 TJS…the fewest?…the White Sox with 6…the
most?…Atl with 23, Stl w/19, SD w/18, NYM w/16 and the Nats w/16
TJ only makes up a fraction of total arm injuries. It annoys me that it gets so much attention. Shoulder injuries are very common and much worse than elbow problems. Then you have all of the other arm injuries that aren’t elbow and shoulder. Bicep, tricep, forearm, lat, pec, fingers, wrist. All arm injuries. TJ is a fraction of the total, and only looking at TJ means you’re missing half of the picture.
For instance, Mets had a lot of TJ, true. But they also had very few of every other type of injury, and therefore lower than average arm injuries overall.
Yeah, I know and am well aware. I was addressing comments made several days ago where…oh nevermind…you missed the point.
The Nats started off poorly last year, too, but they’re still the deepest team in baseball. I would be surprised if they don’t win the division.
It’s time to trade Tanner Rourke for a quality reliever and a dependable hitter
If anyone were to be dealt to get reinforcements, it’d likely be Fister. Roark has way too much team control to make sense dealing.