thurdl sports

NIH: Schneider day-to-day, bad pitching news

Brian Schneider was pinch hit for his third at bat during tonight's game against the Pirates. The initial indication from the broadcasters has him day-to-day with a tweaked hammy, I'll get the Nats press release up as soon as its released.

This put Matt LeCroy behind the plate tonight, where he took a bat to the shoulder during the top of the tenth inning. He was able to stay in the game, but it immediately raised the question of who would catch if the injury had forced him to the bench for the rest of the night. I don't know if that almost-disaster situation will change anything about how quickly the Nats pull the trigger on bringing an extra catch up should Schneider have to spend some time out of the lineup.

Now, that's the bad news. The worse news is that the Nationals pitching health is not going to be improving anytime soon. Both Drese and Patterson are being reported as having set backs this week. Serious suck there. Drese was found to still have inflammation of the elbow, though no structural damage, and the club is still reluctant to set a time table to when he'll be back in a Nationals uniform for a game.

Patterson's rehab start with the Potomac Nationals has also been pushed back after he experienced some pain in a bullpen session. He was hoped to start this coming Monday, but has been pushed back to at least the 13th, which means the earliest he'd be on the mound for the Nationals will either the closer at Chicago or the opener of the Orioles series.

This means the Nats continue to have three of their anticipated starters sitting on the DL. Just wonderful, eh?

posted by thurdl @ 10:23 PM