clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Washington Nationals' Wednesday Night Lineup: Danny Espinosa Returns In Baltimore

Washington Nationals' second baseman Danny Espinosa is back in the lineup tonight after resting his injured wrist for a few days and then testing it in batting practice. The switch-hitting infielder is batting ninth tonight against the Baltimore Orioles and playing second as the Nats and O's play in Camden Yards.

By Patrick Reddington
Greg Fiume

When Washington Nationals' team doctor Dr. Wiemi Douoguih met with the press on Monday to address the myriad injuries currently keeping the Nats from fielding their ideal lineup, he cleared up some of the mystery surrounding Danny Espinosa's "fractured" right wrist.

As quoted by the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore, Dr. Douoguih explained that the fracture discovered in Espinosa wrist after the Nationals returned from their west coast trip, "'... is almost like a bruise. It’s not a fracture as we would normally think of a broken bone. It’s something that tells us there’s something wrong there, but structurally, everything else is sound in that area, in his wrist.'" There is, however, a bone chip in the affected area that was causing swelling in the wrist.

Espinosa rested for a few days and took BP under the watchful eye of his doctor who said the switch-hitting infielder looked good and could be back on the field in a few days if all went well.

"Espi is one tough customer and he doesn't complain about anything, almost to a fault. It was one of those stories where he tried to gut it out and play through the pain until it became too painful..." - Nats' GM Mike Rizzo on 106.7 the FAN in D.C.

Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo updated everyone on Espinosa's condition this morning during his weekly appearance with Holden Kushner and Danny Rouhier on the eponymous "Mike Rizzo Show" on 106.7 the FAN in D.C. and explained how the situation developed after the initial injury to Espinosa's wrist when he was hit by a pitch thrown by the Atlanta Braves' Paul Maholm.

"When he was hit by the pitch," Rizzo said, "We obviously did the X-ray, the MRI, the bonescans and it showed no fracture, so it was some time from the time that he had all the X-ray work done to the time that he complained in San Francisco that it was barking on him especially from the right side of the plate, that I guess the countless swings that he took wore on it and it developed a chip and the chip is floating around in the wrist and it caused a lot of swelling which caused the pain.

"I guess the countless swings that he took wore on it and it developed a chip and the chip is floating around in the wrist..." - Mike Rizzo on Danny Espinosa on 106.7 the FAN in D.C.

"You don't know exactly when the bruise became a chip -- and we probably will never know -- but Espi is one tough customer and he doesn't complain about anything, almost to a fault. It was one of those stories where he tried to gut it out and play through the pain until it became too painful for him and [he] couldn't perform and thought he wasn't giving the team a fair shake by [allowing] them to get somebody else out there who was healthy."

The Nationals' General Manager said at the time, just before noon today, that he wasn't sure that Espinosa would return to the lineup, but when it was announced he was penciled in at second, hitting ninth as the Nats take on the Baltimore Orioles tonight at 7:05 pm EST in Camden Yards:

• Listen to "The Mike Rizzo Show" HERE.

More From Federal Baseball