Washington Nationals' skipper Matt Williams told reporters after last night's game that 29-year-old third baseman Ryan Zimmerman suffered a right hamstring injury running to first on a ground ball in the sixth inning of the Nats' 7-4 win over the Colorado Rockies in Coors Field.
"He's got a right hamstring strain," Williams said. "We're going to have an MRI in the morning and see the severity of it. It's pretty sore tonight. So we'll get the MRI, get some results tomorrow and see where we're at."
According to reports this morning, the results of the MRI have yet to be announced so there is not update on the severity of the injury, but the Nationals did announce this afternoon that Zimmerman was being placed on the 15-Day DL with 24-year-old infielder Zach Walters coming up from Triple-A Syracuse to take Zimmerman's place on the roster.
The #Nats have recalled INF Zach Walters & placed Ryan Zimmerman on the 15-day DL with a right hamstring strain: http://t.co/xpIIHBo84Z
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 23, 2014
It's a particularly frustrating result for Zimmerman, who already missed significant time this season after suffering a fractured right thumb on a headfirst slide into second base on a pickoff play in Atlanta's Turner Field back in April.
Zimmerman was just starting to heat up at the plate as well, going 21 for 58 for a .362/.418/.569 line with six doubles and two home runs in 16 games so far in July.
Williams wouldn't commit to a move to replace Zimmerman on the roster last night, but several reports had Walters leaving the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs to join the Nationals in Colorado in time for the series finale in Coors Field.
In 27 games with the Nationals earlier this season, Walters, acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a July 2011 trade for RHP Jason Marquis, hit three home runs in 36 plate appearances.
On the year with the Nats' top minor league affiliate, Walters had a .300/.358/.608 line with 18 doubles, five triples and 15 HRs in 261 PAs in which he's walked 20 times and K'd 60 times before he was called back up today.