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The Washington Nationals announced within the last 1/2 hour that 27-year-old third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had been scratched from the lineup for tonight's game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park. Zimmerman is being replaced at third base by Chad Tracy, who will also hit third in Zim's place. The Nationals offered no details in making the announcement, saying only that it was a "manager's decision." The announcement cause immediate concern, of course, since the Nats' '05 1st Round pick has already missed significant time this season while recovering from inflammation in the AC Joint of his right shoulder. In 29 games and 131 plate appearances so far this year, the 8-year MLB veteran infielder has a .248/.344/.354 line with six doubles, two home runs, 16 walks and 24 K's.
The Nationals face Phillies' right-hander Roy Halladay tonight, after beating righty Kyle Kendrick in the series opener last night in CBP. Here's the updated lineup that will take the field at 7:05 pm EDT:
REVISED #Nats Lineup: Lombardozzi LF, Harper RF, Tracy 3B, LaRoche 1B, Desmond SS, Espinosa 2B, Ankiel CF, Flores C, Zimmermann RHP
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) May 22, 2012
As others have been quick to note, Nats' skipper Davey Johnson made what was called a "manager's decision" to scratch Jayson Werth a few weeks back when the now-injured outfielder was suffering from a migraine headache. No info is available on what caused the manager to scratch Zimmerman tonight. We'll update with more info later....