PHILADELPHIA — Michael Morse and Ian Desmond said Sunday morning that Tuesday’s game in Miami is a realistic timetable for their respective returns to the Nationals’ lineups.
Morse was out in left field Sunday morning playing catch with Nationals trainer Lee Kuntz, testing his sore right hand for the first time since he was hit with a pitch in the first inning Friday night.
Morse threw for about 15 minutes but said he was still sore when the session was over.
The swelling, Morse said, has migrated some down to his wrist now and he feels kind of like he fell while rollerblading. But with the progress that the outfielder has made each day since Kyle Kendrick’s pitch struck him, he said he would “definitely” play on Tuesday if his body continued to heal in the same manner.
Morse had yet to attempt to grip a bat.
As for Desmond, he hasn’t done much activity since a mild hamstring strain kept him out of Friday night’s lineup as a late scratch but he too saw Tuesday as a strong possibility for his return.
“I’m just trying to get it right as quickly as possible,” Desmond said and called his targeting Tuesday as “fabulous news.”
