One day after getting hit with a pitch in his left wrist, Jayson Werth was back in the Nationals lineup, avoiding a potentially scary situation with a wrist that was hit in 2005 and cost him two years of his career.
Werth texted and called Nationals manager Davey Johnson Monday morning to tell him he was ready to play and wanted to be in the lineup less than 24 hours after declining to get X-rays Sunday afternoon. Werth wears a guard on his left wrist to protect the area. It took him two years and a trip to the Mayo Clinic to recover from the last injury there, one that appeared career-threatening.
– Nationals first baseman Michael Morse got his second straight day off after taking a 94 mph fastball to the left forearm Saturday night. Morse was still unable to rotate his wrist fully on Monday morning and Johnson said he anticipated him needing three or four days to get back to playing form.
X-rays that were taken Saturday night appeared to show a hairline fracture but an MRI on the area proved that to be false and the Nationals do not anticipate needing to put the potential All-Star on the disabled list.
– The Nationals will be calling up a pitcher for tomorrow’s spot start against the Cubs and all signs point to that starter being left-hander Ross Detwiler. Detwiler threw two innings on Thursday on short rest in what looks to be an effort to line him up on regular rest for Tuesday’s start.
When asked Monday if he’d settled on a starter for Tuesday’s game, Johnson said that he had and added with a smile “It’s not going to be (somebody) on this club.”
Detwiler is 6-6 with a 4.53 ERA in 16 starts with Triple-A this season.
