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Hill's aches not from elbow

May 15, 2007 12:35 am

BY TODD JACOBSON

WASHINGTON--There aren't any significant problems with Shawn Hill's right elbow, an MRI exam revealed yesterday.

It's his left shoulder that's the issue.

An MRI revealed a partial dislocation in Hill's non-throwing shoulder and the Nationals placed the right-handed starter on the 15-day disabled list yesterday, enabling closer Chad Cordero to return from bereavement leave.

Hill said the pain in his left shoulder altered his throwing motion, causing the soreness in his right elbow that flared up in his most recent start against the Florida Marlins Friday.

Team officials believe the problem should be solved by rest and Hill won't throw a pitch for 10 to 14 days.

"I hope once this calms down and I strengthen back up the shoulder and my mechanics are fine, then I'll be OK," Hill said.

Given Hill's injury history, the news that Hill's problems are in his shoulder and not his right elbow was well-received by team officials.

Hill missed all of 2005 when he had ligament replacement surgery and made just six starts a year ago before he was shut down with soreness in his right elbow.

"It is good news that the ligament is intact," manager Manny Acta said.

His left shoulder, however, is another story.

Hill jammed it diving headfirst into third base against the Florida Marlins April 20 and aggravated the injury May 1 against the San Diego Padres.

"He pitched great after that," Acta said. "I never saw any mechanical changes that affected his elbow myself. The numbers are there to show it."

He allowed just three runs in 6 innings against the Padres, two runs in six innings against the Chicago Cubs last week and left his last start against the Marlins with a no-hitter through five innings, numbers that mirror his performance the entire season.

He's clearly established himself as the Nationals' most consistent starter, going 3-3 with a 2.70 ERA and making the timing of the injury that much more difficult to deal with.

"It was definitely frustrating because things were going pretty well," Hill said. "You'd like to just keep on going. Now you've got to shut it down and gear back up and you never know how things go."

While Cordero returned from bereavement leave yesterday, the Nationals will ease him back into his role as the team's closer, using reliever Jon Rauch to save games for several days.

"We're probably going to use him in the middle of the games to let him get the feel for it," Acta said. "Then when we have to use him we'll use him."

Cordero said he threw several times during his return to Southern California. He left the team Tuesday to be with his family and his grandmother, Josie Cordero, who died Friday morning.

He admitted he was distracted by his grandmother's battle with brain cancer before he left the team, but returned yesterday with a renewed focus.

"Every time I had some time to sit down and not really think about baseball it was on my mind," said Cordero, who has blown as many saves [four] as he has this season. "Even when I was down in the bullpen I was thinking about it. I was thinking about it a lot, probably a little too much. I wasn't able to stay focused but now that it's over with I'll be fine."

The Nationals will platoon Ryan Langerhans and Nook Logan in center field because of Logan's sore right shoulder, Acta said.

Langerhans, a left-handed hitter, will play against right-handed pitchers and Logan, a switch-hitter, will play against lefties because he is having trouble swinging the bat from the left side of the plate. Logan injured his shoulder in Milwaukee last week shortly after returning from the disabled list with a strained left foot.