Nationals' C Wilson Ramos to Have Surgery To Remove Hamate Bone In Left Hand

In an appearance on 106.7 the FAN in D.C.'s The Sports Junkies this morning, Washington Nationals' Manager Matt Williams explained to the show's hosts that last night's reports on Wilson Ramos were, in fact, accurate.

The Nats' 26-year-old catcher has a broken hamate bone in his left hand and he will have surgery to remove it which, according to Williams, could cost him 4-5 weeks on the DL.

In the immediate aftermath of Monday's season opener, Williams said the initial X-rays on Ramos' left hand were negative.

"Preliminary X-rays were negative," Williams told reporters. "But he's going to see our hand specialist tomorrow."

"He did it -- there was a foul tip and he took a swing that he didn't feel good on," Williams said. "So we got him out of the game at that point and got a picture of it, so he'll see the specialist tomorrow and see where we're at."

Nats' Bench Coach Randy Knorr has since said that the issue first cropped up toward the end of Spring Training.

Asked about what he knew and said after the game on Monday in this morning's interview, the Nats' first-year skipper broke down how things played out.

"Well, we don't know all of the information," Williams explained to The Sports Junkies this morning. "What I get after the game is the information from [Head Athletic Trainer] Lee Kuntz and that, we had an X-ray. The X-ray was negative, so that means a lot of things. It means that they can't see the overwhelming break in there. We did send him to the hand specialist yesterday and confirmed that he's got a broken hamate bone. And he'll have surgery to remove it and should be back in 4-5 weeks. Those things heal pretty quickly, but after the game, you just don't know exactly what it is and you don't want to give too much information because we don't have all the information. So preliminary reports were a negative X-ray, but as they delve further into it and get the MRI they can see a lot better what in fact it is and it turns out to be a broken hamate."

With Ramos sidelined with another in a string of injuries that have stalled his development over the last few seasons, Williams said Jose Lobaton, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays this spring, will get the bulk of the time behind the plate.

"That's why we went out this winter and got Jose Lobaton, for a situation like this," Williams said. "Wilson's had some terrible luck and it turns out he's had it again. Lobie started 76 games last year, caught in 100 games and that lineup change will certainly happen tonight."

In his fourth major league season in 2013, Lobaton, 29, finished at +1.4 fWAR, playing 100 games total and making 311 plate appearances over which he put up a .249/.320/.394 line with 15 doubles, two triples and seven home runs.

With Ramos out of the lineup for the next month-plus, Williams said there will necessarily be some changes to the lineup.

"We may move Anthony [Rendon] into a different spot tonight, of course, given the fact that Wilson is out and we need a little more punch in the middle of the lineup," he explained. "So that may change as well, but we'll address that when we get to the ballpark today."

The Nationals haven't yet announced it, but nationals.com writer Bill Ladson reported on Twitter this morning that 25-year-old catcher Sandy Leon was being called up to takeover as the Nats' backup catcher:

The #Nats are calling up calling up catcher Sandy Leon. #Nationals #MLB

— William Ladson (@washingnats) April 2, 2014