Assistant athletic trainer Mike McGowan (right) has been busy attending to center fielder Lastings Milledge and other injured Washington Nationals all season long. Lawrence Jackson/ASSOCIATED PRESS Visit the Photo Place

Nationals look for good health and good luck

Cellar-dwelling Nationals limp into season's second half

Date published: 7/18/2008

BY RICH CAMPBELL

WASHINGTON--

For one, no baseball had been played yet--always a positive when you're talking about a last-place team. And at that time, few of his players had torn muscles or broken bones.

Back then, the Nationals' outlook was all about blossoming position players, an unheralded pitching staff eager to overachieve for the second straight year and a sparkling new ballpark in which to show them off.

It didn't take long, though, for injuries and underachievement to obliterate any hope for a winning record. Now, you hear the buzzwords of a losing team--"pride" and "spoilers"--in forecasts for the second half of the year, which begins tonight at Atlanta.

At this point, the Nationals hope that they can get healthy enough to salvage something--anything--positive from an otherwise miserable season.

"We can't be any worse than we have been this year," catcher Paul Lo Duca said. "We've had some tough breaks. We need to come out in the second half and play with pride."

The ugly numerical totals from the first half fully depict the putrid product on display on South Capitol Street the last 3 months. The Nationals have limped to a major league-worst 36-60 record, and they rank last in the majors in two critical offensive categories: runs per game (3.6) and batting average (.239).

At some point during the first half--perhaps when third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, Washington's best player, was sidelined on May 26--injuries transitioned from an excuse to the reason that Washington has played so poorly.

'IT SEEMS BIBLICAL'

Sixteen different players have spent time on the disabled list this season, forcing manager Manny Acta to field a lineup full of Triple-A players and major-league backups.

"The constellation of misfortune is striking," team orthopedist Ben Shaffer said. "It seems biblical. The reality is there are a number of different events that are not related, and most of them are traumatic and unavoidable--fit individuals that were not predisposed in any way [to injury]."

The Nationals' first-half injury report resembled a M*A*S*H episode. Here is the extensive list of the team's walking wounded and when they're expected to return: Player Injury ETA 3B Ryan Zimmerman Left shoulder Next week CF Lastings Milledge Right groin strain 2 weeks C Johnny Estrada Right elbow neuritis Next week RHP Shawn Hill Right forearm strain No timetable OF Elijah Dukes Right knee Late August IF Aaron Boone Left calf strain Next week RHP Ryan Wagner Right shoulder Late July RHP Chad Cordero Right shoulder 2009 1B Nick Johnson Right wrist 2009 OF Wily Mo Pena Left shoulder No timetable NOTE: C Paul Lo Duca (right hand, 52 games) and RF Austin Kearns (right elbow, 38 games) have returned from injuries after missing substantial time.

Follow us on

Date published: 7/18/2008