PITTSBURGH -- The Nationals activated Ryan Zimmerman off the 15-day disabled list this afternoon and placed Jayson Werth on it, having their two highest-paid players swap roster spots entering tonight's series opener against the Pirates.
Zimmerman will be in the lineup for tonight's game at PNC Park, his first appearance since April 20 against the Marlins. Inflammation of his right shoulder had sidelined the veteran third baseman since then.Werth, meanwhile, was placed on the DL with a broken left wrist, an injury sustained while trying to make a sliding catch of a sinking liner during the sixth inning of Sunday night's game against the Phillies.
The veteran right fielder underwent surgery yesterday at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He's expected to resume strengthening exercises in six weeks and could return to the Nationals' lineup in roughly 12 weeks.
Though Werth will be out for an extended period of time, the Nationals chose to place him on the 15-day DL for now. They could transfer him to the 60-day DL at some point, a move that would open up a spot on the 40-man roster.
53 comments:
So why don't they just put Werth, or other players in similar situations, on the 60-day to begin with? Is the paperwork so much more involved, or what?
After going to the first two games this weekend and being extremely cheerful, the loss on Sunday and Werth's injury was surely painful. However, it is nice to see Zim, and hopefully LaRoche, coming back. Hopefully we can continue winning against bad teams, which was what we failed to do last year. I feel that this team will surely struggle against the good teams while they have their "true" line up out, but as they seem to never give up, they will pull off some wins and hopefully hold on until Morse comes back. Go Nats!
It does not matter, no way they sustain this momentum. You can see the cracks - Jordan Zimmerman getting bombed by Philly on Sunday night, Edwin Jackson coming back to form as a 4.50+ ERA pitcher. Detweiler, Gio and Stratsburg arent far behind.
Once these pitchers return to their career norms our offense is going to be exposed. Harper may hustle but he's not hitting ANY home runs. Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Laroche are perpetually hurt and now Werth is done for the year.
I predict a .500 record UNLESS Rizzo does something smart for once and trades some of our excess pieces like Detweiler, Jordan Zimmerman and Clippard for some real hitters. Go out and get Denard Span and Mournou from Minny in package deal!
Darin, be patient. After all, this year is/was supposed to be a year of building up for next year. Making the playoffs would be great and "overachieving" for 2012. Why would you trade Znn, a young, stellar pitcher? Perhaps Detwiler, but he is doing very well too. I say we try to hold on and see how we do when our line up is healed up. If they keep receiving injuries, or do not play as well once they come back, then perhaps look towards trading away solid pitching for some offense.
@SoulPossession - Kilgore tweeted this a bit ago:
Jayson Werth is on the 15-day DL, and not the 60-day, because teams do not use the 60-day until they need the 40-man spot. Just procedural.
I know we have a lot of Werth haters, but we'll miss Werth more than people think.
Hope he gets better soon
Zimmermann got bombed by Philly? He gave up three runs in six innings, the definition (barely) of a quality start.
Why trade away parts of the BEST pitching staff in major league baseball (that is under contract for a long time) for some short term bats?
Welcome back, Ryan!
Zimmermann is under a 1-year, $2.3 million contract, not sure what you're talking about, Kevin.
Also, I don't see trading him for some short term bats. A player like Zimmermann would demand a very high price. You trade from a position of strength to get a position of weakness. We're on the verge of sending Detwiler to the bullpen to make room for Wang when there's teams out there that are dying for starting pitching.
It would be stupid not to entertain trade offers for Zimmermann.
Darin H-
I've posted this before on this site, but I'll post it again for you because it's appropriate:
It make NO sense to expect regression on one side of the ball but not the other. That's not how regression works. If you expect Ross Detwiler and Edwin Jackson to start pitching closer to their career numbers, then you also have to expect Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa to start hitting closer to their career numbers.
Otherwise what you're doing isn't analysis, it's just plain old miserable pessimism.
What's up with LaRoche - I thought he was coming off, too? Mark - questions about the dl -- first of all - got any updates on where we are with the Morse and Storen process? Second - I have seen the dl players in the dugout, in uniform during the home games. If they are not in viera or doing rehab starts, is this usual for a team? It's really nice and I think it keeps their heads in the games - watching pitchers and hitters. I really hope that JW does that - it will be like having another coach in the dugout. I don't pay that much attention to the other teams we play, so I am not sure that I have seen their dl players with the team. Just wondering if it's the norm or if the nats players just can't stay away. It must be very hard to sit there and watch someone try to take your place - is it worse if they do well, or fail?
@baseballswami - What's up with LaRoche - I thought he was coming off, too?
LaRoche wasn't on the DL, just resting.
Thank you Marty, for sharing the Kilgore quote. My question was more along the lines of "What's the advantage to doing it that way."
@amartinez, you know "Darin" is just trying to wind somebody up--"darin you to respond" you might say.
My question was more along the lines of "What's the advantage to doing it that way."
except with a ? at the end of it.
I wouldn't trade any of the young stud pitchers that are under team control for the next several years. Especially with Wang/Ejax on 1 year contracts.
In the meantime.. Welcome back Zim, get well soon Jayson!
Does this mean Mark is in Pittsburgh? I hope so!
Grandstander-
Zimmermann is under club control through at least 2015. he signed a one year contract to avoid arbitration, but the end of that contract doesn't signify the end of his time as a National. Next year he'll either sign another one-year deal or go to arbitration and set his salary that way.
Marty - really? LaRoche is not on the dl? So we have been playing a man short? Seriously - what this team has done with spit, string and duct tape is worthy of a MacGuyver episode!!
Zimmermann is under a 1-year, $2.3 million contract
but he's under team control through all of 2014.
Whoops, typo. 2015. Two-zero-one-five.
I am really glad Darin H is not the GM.
Swami - hard to believe isn't it but yes, we were a man down while LaRoche recovered. They were hoping he would not take 15 days and lets hope they guessed correctly. Is it just me or are they being awfully quiet about Morse?
Enough people answered the Zimmnn issue. We have everyone but Jackson locked up for at least a couple years if not longer.
Can't wait for this lineup to be posted.
Go Nats
not to buy into the early post but I believe Morneau is now on the DL with a bum wrist.
DHamm
Not our GM, no. But I wish that he were a GM, and that Rizzo could start doing deals with him ASAP.
Lineups just out. Harper batting second, Espinosa 5th. Mark was on the money.
Line ups on twitter - Desi, Harper, Zim , Laroche,Espi, Ankiel, Ramos, Bernie, EJax. Great to see those names back in the line up but neither one has faced live pitching in a while. Could be a practice game.
Tweet from Amanda --
@acomak: Full #nats lineup: Desmond SS, Harper RF, Zimmerman 3B, LaRoche 1B, Espinosa 2B, Ankiel CF, Ramos C, Bernadina LF, Jackson P
Got our wish on Harp at #2.
I like the line-up, but I wish Davey would platoon Moore with the Shark out in left field.
NatsNut....
Go with Jayson...I would think that most ball players wouldn't mind their fans calling them by their first name...
Just don't hand deliver it to his home...that may be looked at in more of a "stalkerish" kind of way...
On top of @ other or what? :-)
RZim and ALR at 3&4 means more ABs for them.
COREY BROWN! come on Rizzo.
Lineups posted. As we expected, Lombo back to the bench and BHarp moved up to the 2.
Its not the optimal lineup in my opinion, but here's hoping that Espi breaks out in a good way and rewards Davey for having his back.
Espi batting 5th is a real stretch considering how he's batting. I would have loved to see Lombo playing LF. Hard to keep a .300 hitter out of this or any lineup.
And no.. Nady.. thank you.
NatsNut.. agree on Jayson. and agree do not to hand deliver. Don't want to see Mark posting about a stalker being taken to jail ;-)
As sad and ill-timed as Werth's injury is, if you were given the choice between having Zim or Werth out for 12 weeks, who would you choose? Yeah, me too.
So this lineup is better than the one that we had before Zim went down. By a long shot. I sure hope there's not a rainout tonight. I'm ready for baseball.
Two things that I don't understand:
1) The Corey Brown love. He hit .235 and slugged .402 in AAA last year; this year, in AAA again this year, he is hitting .250 and slugging .405. Roger Bernadina is a career .296 AAA player with a .445 SLG. Bernadina has a demonstrably better numbers as a AAA player across the board and is also lefthanded. Ankiel is also lefthanded and a better player. Don't see how Corey Brown helps on this roster. The Nats need right-handed hitting OF to play against lefties until DeRosa returns.
2. Why Espinosa is playing over Lombo tonight. Pretty clear over the last 12 games that Lombo is the better player right now. Maybe Davey is going to play them interchangeably, but don't see how the Nats can afford to sit the better bat.
COREY BROWN! come on Rizzo.
I think this has been discussed before, but there's just no reason to put Corey Brown on the 40 man unless you are going to bring him up to the bigs. Because once he goes on the 40 man, he has to pass through waivers (again) to take him off.
And right now, Rizzo/DJ are showing no signs of wanting to replace Nady with a LH hitter.
So this lineup is better than the one that we had before Zim went down. By a long shot.
I meant "after" Zim went down (but before ALR did, where there's no comparison). It's also better than the one we had before Zim went down because I'd rather have Harper in the lineup than Werth. But that's debatable I suppose.
Our offense is really going to miss Mini-Z.
game post...
Pilchard-
Corey Brown started out 2012 red-hot, and because he's still a year or two short of peak, people thought maybe he was breaking through instead of it just being a product of small sample size. He's cooled off a bit, but he's still seen as the shiny new toy as compared to Bernadina, who we've seen plenty of. Everyone loves the unknown prospect because her hasn't disappointed you yet.
It's strange that you see that and favor Lombardozzi, though. Espi has the better minor league and even major league numbers over their careers. Lombo has been the better hitter over the last six weeks, but then Corey Brown has been better than Bernadina, too.
Pilchard, although I agree he is probably not quite ready, I believe Brown was battling a nagging injury last year in AAA and, to date, has shown to be more of a hard-nosed player than Bernadina.
Pretty clear Johnson is not going to be swayed to bench Espinosa until his lack of production affects the team in the standings.
Not necessarily advocating for Corey Brown, but it's worth noting that even more (that is, much longer) than Harp, he's taken a while to get acclimated at each higher level of the minors -- starting very slow and then raking. Does the current cooldown suggest he's reached his highest level or is it just a slump that anyone might have, especially without the major lineup protection that Harp and TMoore provided, now gone for the past 10 days or so?
"Soul Possession, My PFB Hitterish Sofa said...
So why don't they just put Werth, or other players in similar situations, on the 60-day to begin with? Is the paperwork so much more involved, or what?"
Because when he comes back off the 60-day DL it could require a roster move, depending on whether they add anyone to the 40-man while he's on the DL. If they do, then to bring Werth back someone would have to be removed from the 40-man. Since at the moment there's no need to add anyone to the 40-man roster, there's no need to get Werth off of it. Thus, putting him on the 60-day DL just adds a possible complication down the line that they don't need to worry about. If he was definitely not coming back for the rest of the season, they'd probably 60-day him.
Whenever I think the first name is too informal, and Mr lastname is too formal -- I split the difference and use both, and so:
"Dear Jayson Werth," . . .
Corey Brown has hit .237 over his last 10 AAA games. So, even with the smaller sample size, Brown has not hit better recently.
Also, do not agree that Espinosa has better overall numbers as either a minor league of major league player. Lombo has a better major and minor league BA and OBP; Espi has slightly better slugging percentage. Even if we call that a wash, Espinosa has been flat out awful over his last 400 plate appearances with just 6 home runs and 16 RBI. Espinosa has 2 T-W-O RBI this season despite either hitting in the middle of the line-up or the two hole.
Doubt that there has been a less productive offensive player in MLB with as many at-bats since the 2011 All-Star break. Have no idea how Espinosa can play everyday based on his track record since July 2011.
"Is it just me or are they being awfully quiet about Morse?"
Morse is in about week four of a six-week total shutdown of upper body activity. All he's doing is running the stairs for cardio and to keep up his lower body strength. So unless he sprains an ankle, what is there to say?
The expectation is that at the end of the six week shutdown he'll be able to throw without pain and can resume baseball activities. So if at the six week point you don't see that happening, then you can start worrying.
Really? Does it help the bats when he makes trips from the press box, too, as with his dad? Oh, wait. You probably meant the *other* Mini-Z. :-)
baseballswami said...
Our offense is really going to miss Mini-Z.
May 08, 2012 3:21 PM
Brown is a natural slick fielding CFer. has a little bit of power and is an onbase machine. he's been hitting leadoff this year at AAA. maybe he could be another young body willing to hustle for the big league team.... i know he's not a spring chicken either, but yes, if i was Rizzo i would replace Bernadina with Brown. Bernie has had a .665 OPS in 1 and 1/2 years of MLB atbats. he's had his chance.
Bernie's career OPS in the minors is .740 over many seasons. Brown's OPS is .824 over a similar number of years. I know Bernie had a real hot 2008 in the minors...but Brown has had more stable numbers, and better overall numbers, throughout his career. And he has a better glove. If Brown can hit at a .75O OPS while being a top fielding CFer in the majors, he'd stay in the majors. Why not see what you've got? We need more spark. Harper can't do it alone.
Has this been discussed: why is Werth on the 15 day DL, and not some longer term list? What's the advantage?
Another Sam, yes. See Ann Ominous's kind reply to my question at 3:40.
Ms. Ominous: Thank you. and you too, SP. But it surely seems arcane to me. Thank you. SP -- was your handle formerly Soul Drummer?
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