As the gauntlet continued this week with the World Champion Chicago Cubs in town for a four-game set at Nationals Park, the ball club was just three outs away from taking three of four from the Cubs and winning a huge series at home with tons of momentum.
All of that changed in the ninth inning. Before reliever Blake Treinen was booed off the mound at Nationals Park after blowing a two-run ninth-inning save, leadoff hitter and lineup spark plug Trea Turner was removed from the game as a precautionary measure since he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning. Unfortunately, along with the dagger loss, Turner was diagnosed with a broken wrist that landed him on the disabled list.
Washington Nationals’ Trea Turner reacts after he was hit by a pitch during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs, Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Washington. The Cubs won 5-4. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
For a team that has gone through so many injuries this first half of the season, this one really stings. The Nationals don’t know yet exactly how long they’re going to be without Turner but they know they’re going to have to make do without their dynamic leadoff man and shortstop for a significant amount of time. Most likely the injury will keep the young infielder out for eight to 10 weeks, based on the recovery time for other players who have dealt with similar injuries. The Nationals will have a clearer idea once Turner gets a new X-ray on the wrist in two weeks, revealing how much the bone has healed to that point and how he can progress in his physical activities.
Turner, after a somewhat slow start and an earlier disabled list trip with a strained hamstring, had become exactly what the Nationals fans had expected from the second-year talent. In Turner’s previous 32 games he had batted .324 and stolen 24 bases; he would have racked up 120 if he managed that pace over a full season. Veteran Stephen Drew will take over for Turner for the foreseeable future, as Drew is definitely a capable replacement.
Beyond the awful news about Turner and the inability for the bullpen to hold down the lead in the June 29th game, it seemed to take a bit out of the team as they would go on and lose the first two games of the following series against another nemesis, the St Louis Cardinals.
Injuries, as we all know, are part of team sports. Manager Dusty Baker will have to tinker with the lineups and keep the team’s psyche intact without its young spark plug and its beleaguered bullpen as the Nats enter next week’s all-star break.
