Washington Nationals' Michael Morse Out Indefinitely; Issues With Lat Persist.

For the second day in a row it's bad news coming out of Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson's pregame meeting with reporters. Yesterday, before the Nats' 4-3 loss to the New York Mets, the 69-year-old skipper revealed that 24-year-old closer Drew Storen was headed to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion on his ailing elbow after experiencing soreness while throwing a simulated game as he tried to return from the injury which kept him out of action most of the Spring and resulted in the right-hander starting the season on the DL. There was no update on Storen this afternoon, but Johnson did tell reporters that another injured National, 30-year-old 1B/OF Michael Morse too had suffered a setback as he attempted to return from a lat injury in his right (throwing) shoulder...

Michael Morse felt soreness throwing last night, had to be re-examined by team docs. He's not playing Thursday. Out indefinitely.

— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) April 10, 2012

Reports from Citi Field say that Morse lifted himself from last night's rehab start with the Class-A Hagerstown Suns. Washington Times' writer Amanda Comak (@AComak) noted on Twitter that, "Morse's soreness/throwing got progressively worse Monday night, ultimately he took himself out. Timetable now unknown." The lat issue first surfaced early this Spring, and was originally described as a simple "tweak", but it was later diagnosed as a "lat strain", and Morse eventually (according to reports) had a "platelet-rich plasma treatment" at one point in an attempt to speed up the healing process. Until last night, reports on Morse's recovery had been positive, but this afternoon's announcement once again raises questions about when the Nats' 2011 offensive MVP will return to the lineup. All the Nationals are saying now is that an expected return for Thursday's home opener is now not going to happen.

More info when it's available...