Injury Woes: Nats Struggle to Line Up
LOST IN THE RAUCOUS, packed-house, walk-off celebration that was the Washington Nationals’ opening night victory was pain and the quiet promise of more to come.
On that night, left-fielder Elijah Dukes injured his hamstring and closer Chad Cordero succumbed to right shoulder tendonitis. Both were on the disabled list before the week was out, and the rest of the Nationals weren’t looking very able, either.
Dukes wasn’t even the Nats’ regular left fielder. He was filling in for Wily Mo Pena, who was nursing an oblique injury.
Manager Manny Acta was left to shuffle both his lineup and his bullpen, and not much worked. Jon Rauch became the de facto closer and allowed runs in four of his first five outings. In left, Willie Harris and Rob Mackowiak stepped in. Defense was fine. Offense was nonexistent.
So, you can forgive general manager Jim Bowden‘s excitement when Pena returned this week.
“We had one RBI from left field after 12 games. It’s hard to win baseball games when you have one RBI from left field,” Bowden said. “Having Wily Mo back, he’s a threat to get one RBI every time he walks to the plate. So that changes you offensively immediately.”
Except Pena has struggled, too. In his first game back, he struck out three times and hit into a double play. After three games, he had just two hits in 12 at bats — and no RBI.
Cordero returned — his velocity didn’t — and he nearly blew a rare ninth-inning lead Sunday.
“It’s killing everybody,” Bowden said. “You don’t want to start the year this way. We’re opening a new ballpark and we don’t want the fans to see us get beat.”
Acta is looking forward to when he can manage the roster that Bowden worked hard to put together.
“It’ll be a good feeling when we’re able to put all those pieces together,” he said. “We’re not making excuses, by no means, but it’ll be nice to know when we can bring everybody back to where they belong.”
Written by Express contributor Derek Turner
Photo by Richard A. Lipski/The Washington Post
