Desmond to DL

Ian Desmond has been officially placed on the 15-day disabled list. The All-Star shortstop had an MRI done that revealed a tear in his left oblique muscle. Desmond has been battling the injury since the All-Star break and has been in and out of the line-up. After today, however, Desmond will likely be out for quite some time.

Usually, a torn oblique muscle can cause a player to miss close to a month of action. That means that Desmond won't return until late August. The Nationals thought that Desmond could recover from what was simply called a strain at first, but now, following the MRI, the injury has been upgraded to a tear.

The timing of this injury couldn't have come at a better time. With Jayson Werth on the cusp of returning to the outfield, manager Davey Johnson is left with some wiggle room in the line-up.

Danny Espinosa has been seeing a lot of time at shortstop since Desmond has not been the everyday starter for the past month. He will slide over to that position. Steve Lombardozzi will then be pulled from the outfield and he will get the start at second base. For now, it will be Michael Morse, Bryce Harper, and Roger Bernadina getting the start in the outfield. Once Jayson Werth returns, he will likely replace Bernadina.

The Nationals did call up outfielder Corey Brown from Triple AAA Syracuse. He and Roger Bernadina will share time in the outfield, but most of it will go to Bernadina due to his experience and the fact that he has been swinging a hot bat as of late.


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Source: NBC Sports