Harper lands on DL, again
Well the worst has come true for Washington National faithful, Bryce Harper will for the first time this season be placed on the disable list due to his need of surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb and he is expected to be out until at least early July, ESPN’s Keith Law reports.
Harper suffered the injury on a head first slide into third base after a base clearing triple on April 25 against the San Diego Padres, the Nationals would go on to win the game 11-1. At the time of the injury the severity of it was unknown with Harper showing little to no discomfort after the play. But after seeing multiple doctors he and the Nationals elected to have the surgery on Tuesday, April 29, to repair the thumb.
Harper will go the DL currently batting .289, highest of career, with one home run and nine runs batted in. This will be the second season in a row Harper will miss significant amount of time due to injuries, after missing 44 games last season to an array of injuries it was heavily discussed what a healthy Harper could do this year and how he could help many experts prediction of the Nationals winning the World Series come true. This injury will definitely set the Nationals back offensively and defensively, which is already worst in the MLB.
But for National faithful help is on its way and the help is in the immediate in the debut of newly acquired National pitcher Doug Fister. Fister pitched on Sunday in a rehab start for the Nationals Class A Potomac and is expected to make one more rehab start before making his Nationals debut some time next week.
The 6’8 right handed pitcher will look to solidify the Nationals starting rotation as one of the best in baseball. After posting a 14-9 record to go with a 3.67 ERA Fister was acquired from the Detroit Tigers in this past off-season for Steve Lombardozzi (now of the Baltimore Orioles) and Ian Krol. The Nationals are hoping the 30 year old can bring a veteran presence to a young but great pitching staff as well as take pressure of the now depleted offense until Harper returns in July.
For now all the National faithful can do is wait and hope someone can step up, whether its in the offense or in the rotation, with the spark plug of the Nationals gone for two months. As well as hope the injuries Harper keep piling up do not become a chronic problem that could cripple a World Series hungry franchise.
