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Washington Nationals' Ryan Mattheus To DL With Broken Hand; Nats Expected To Call Up RHP Yunesky Maya; LHP Fernando Abad

According to reports from AT&T Park tonight, Washington Nationals' right-hander Ryan Mattheus broke his hand slamming his glove into his locker after a rough outing Sunday in the Nats' loss to the San Diego Padres. Mattheus will head to the DL and Yunesky Maya and Fernando Abad are expected to get called up.

By Patrick Reddington
USA TODAY Sports

I refuse to quote Crash Davis. Right-handed reliever Ryan Mattheus apparently broke his right hand while slamming his glove into his locker after he gave up four hits and five runs in an inning of work in the Washington Nationals' loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday night. The rough inning of work broke a streak of seven scoreless relief appearance by the 29-year-old right-hander, but Mattheus offered no excuse when he spoke to reporters after the game. "It's just [inexcusable]," Mattheus said, "Not commanding the strike zone and leaving the ball up." The right-hander wouldn't use a lack of work as an excuse for his poor showing. "No I don't think that's it," he said when a reporter asked, "I've been up the last two nights in the bullpen, so I should definitely be sharp. Not getting into the games isn't an excuse. I've still got to get the job done."

"He's going to be out a while. It's a broken bone in your pitching hand. That's going to be out a while." - Davey Johnson on Ryan Mattheus' broken right hand

There were no reports of Mattheus' injury until after tonight's game when Davey Johnson told reporters about the reliever's injury. Mattheus told the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore that he was embarrassed by what happened:

According to tweeted reports from AT&T Park tonight, the Nationals are going to call up right-hander Yunesky Maya and left-hander Fernando Abad to fill out their bullpen, which is going to be shorthanded tomorrow after Zach Duke, Craig Stammen and Henry Rodriguez all had extended outings as the Nats tried to piece together a start with Ross Detwiler sidelined by an oblique issue. Eury Perez is reportedly being set back to Triple-A to make room for the relievers:

"It was unfortunate [Mattheus] didn't tell anybody that he broke his hand [Sunday night]," Davey Johnson said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to have anyone here to help us out." - Davey Johnson on Ryan Mattheus

Davey Johnson told reporters how it all happened after tonight's game, explaining that it was a rough night in the loss to the Giants because the team was shorthanded in the pen. "It was unfortunate [Mattheus] didn't tell anybody that he broke his hand [Sunday night]," Johnson said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to have anyone here to help us out."

"Last night after the game he came in and when he was in the locker room he banged his glove against his locker with his hand in it," Johnson explained, "And he didn't say anything to anybody. His hand didn't swell up, but when he went out to throw today his hand swelled up and he couldn't throw the ball."

"He felt real bad about," Johnson continued, "but I wish he had said something about what he did." Johnson said that the right-hander had his right hand in his glove when he slammed it into his locker and now he has a long rehab ahead of him. "He's going to be out a while. It's a broken bone in your pitching hand. That's going to be out a while."

"We have a couple pitchers coming in," the manager reported, "one of the moves we had to make was to send out a position player, go short on the position side because of the uncertainty." The called-up relievers, Maya and Abad, will be with the team in San Francisco tomorrow. Mattheus told reporters, including the Washington Times' Amanda Comak, that he was embarrassed:

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