Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth will be sidelined through at least August after a CT scan performed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. today revealed a pair of small fractures in his left wrist, reports MLB.com’s Bill Ladson. Werth “could return as early as August,” if his rehab goes according to plan, writes Ladson, though that suggests that August is somewhat of a best-case scenario. The injury appears to have been sustained when he was hit by a pitch on May 15.
How the Nationals deal with the injury remains to be seen. The team was without center fielder Denard Span for an extended period of time to open the season and elected to patch the hole with top prospect Michael A. Taylor, who performed well in Span’s absence. Certainly, with both Span and Taylor capable of playing a plus center field, it stands to reason that one of the two (likely Taylor) could slide over to left field and more than adequately handle the position from a defensive standpoint.
Taylor was only briefly optioned to Triple-A after Span’s return, and he remains with the club now, though he’s struggled as of late. It’s possible that infrequent playing time has given him trouble, but the 24-year-old has just two hits in his past 26 plate appearances and has struck out in 12 of those trips to the dish. Strikeouts have been an issue for Taylor in the past. Despite a strong .304/.390/.526 batting line in Triple-A last season, he punched out 144 times in 493 PAs (29.2 percent).
The Nationals have some other alternatives in house, including Tyler Moore, Clint Robinson and the rehabbing Nate McLouth. But, if Taylor struggles for a prolonged period, it’s feasible that the Werth injury could lead them to look outside the organization. Wrist injuries can often lead to offensive struggles even after they’ve healed, so it might make sense for the Nats to safeguard themselves against a temporarily power-sapped Werth as they assess their roster prior to a hopeful postseason run. I don’t expect a significant addition in the near future, though I do wonder if the club might take a look at recently designated Alejandro De Aza, provided the Orioles pay most of the roughly $3.55MM remaining on his 2015 salary.
In the “in-house options” category, don’t be surprised if Danny Espinosa gets a tryout in the outfield.
with the other options, that would seem kind of desperate.
Not desperate if Espinosa proves competent in the outfield (remember, Ryan Zimmerman manned left field for weeks last year before Harper came back from his injury). It would keep his bat in the lineup when Rendon returns, and I’ll wager he’d be a better outfielder than Tyler Moore or Clint Robinson (who really should be bench players). Plus, it would enable Michael Taylor to be sent back to AAA for more seasoning, which he really needs.
That was Boston’s thinking with Ramirez. He can play IF, surely he can play OF. Doesn’t always work that way.
That’s why I said tryout. If it doesn’t work, as the article mentions, there’s plenty of other options. Forcing someone to play the outfield because there’s nowhere else to put him is asking for trouble; the Nats have been down that road before (Josh Willingham and Michael Morse). They certainly won’t make that mistake again.
good point. It did work with Biggio and Yount, not that I would compare Espinosa with either.
Allen Craig
No one – in MLB – wants Allen Craig and his contract.
Right, Boston would have to pay him. He’s kinda been destroying IL pitching for two weeks. He may have his stroke back (or maybe not).
I don’t know about that, Charles
Not a problem for Nationals he wasn’t contributing a whole lot anyway! And I think he was getting on Harpers Mojo anyway.
Worth is one of the team leaders. They’ll need him with the team and during he stretch run and playoffs.
It’s a good thing Harper’s hitting enough for both of them.
If gotten cheaply, De Aza might be a good get for them. Would be a good bench bat once Werth returns.
Jose Tabata for Jordan Zimmerman. 😉
Trumbo could make some sense. A power bat to compliment Harper would be nice for them to have.
I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts Werth is done for the season.Although he’s part of the big picture,he is easily replacable with the depth of the Nats organization.If Taylor doesn’t get his strikeouts down,we can bring one or two of the young guns up and see how they do,as every player we have for that position can’t hit anyway.The Nats haven’t gotten any production from LF this season and they haven’t needed it anyway.Rendon will be back in the line up by next week then look out baseball,the Nats will be un-touchable then
I like this kid Michael Taylor I think he has a bright future in washington
Maybe the O’s should try to trade Chris Davis to the Nats for some propsects. They’re going to lose him after the year and now that he’s had 3 good games in a row (rare for him since 2013) they should trade him while they can.
How the heck does a major league hitter go 13 days between getting hit by a pitch in the wrist and getting it X-rayed? It seems like they’d have done that immediately afterwards just as a matter of course.
I bet they regret losing Souza now…dummies.