thurdl sports

NIH: Some good news. Any good news!

Alright, the simple fact of the matter right now is that the Nationals suck. So I've decided to devote this NIH entry into finding any good news I can about our injured players. So let's go.

First off, Nick Johnson returned to the lineup last night for the first time since Franceour smashed into him. Good to see him back in the game. It's been an amazingly injury-free season, since injuries have been the theme of his career to this point. Johnson drove in one of the Nationals runs on a single hit.

John Patterson is featured in the sidebar that the Washington Post is putting on its Nationals articles. Apparently he's feeling good right now, and his arm is improving. That's good news, right? There's no stated return date. I'd like to see him be done for the season, others have argued that it would be a nice motivational tool (and nice fan service) for him to start the closer on October 1, even if it's a 50-60 pitch count limit. I think it all just depends on where his arm is. Just, for the love of god, don't rush him back!

Luis Ayala was briefly in the news about a month ago when he popped in to see his team mate while they were on the west coast. Today marks 5 months from his Tommy John surgery, and he says he's feeling great. Now mind that the best case recover for a pitcher is about 12 month (so April '07) and often can go to 18 (so October '07). Hopefully he's right that things are feeling good, but don't translate that to returning before, say, the all star break.

posted by thurdl @ 12:10 PM