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Nationals place Ryan Zimmerman on DL, recall Matt den Dekker

The Washington Nationals announced this afternoon that they were placing Ryan Zimmerman on the 15 day DL with left foot plantar fasciitis. The Nats called Matt den Dekker up from Triple-A Syracuse.

By Patrick Reddington
Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Nationals announced this afternoon that they were placing Ryan Zimmerman on the 15-Day DL with left foot plantar fasciitis. Zimmerman has been dealing with the issue for a while now and struggling at the plate this season though he refused to blame his problems on offense on the foot when he spoke to reporters recently.

Zimmerman sat out two games recently and Matt Williams spoke about the problems Zimmerman was having at the plate and whether or not they were related to the plantar fasciitis in his foot, telling reporters that it was hard to judge whether his offensive issues were directly connected to the problem.

To take Zimmerman's place on the roster the Nationals recalled outfielder Matt den Dekker from Triple-A Syracuse.

Williams gave Zimmerman the day off on Sunday, and thus two days off with no game on Monday.

Zimmerman returned to the lineup Tuesday night and went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, leaving him 1 for 25 over the last seven games and just 4 for 39 with 10 Ks in his last ten.

"He's working hard every day. We gave him a couple days in a row off. The foot has been an issue all season, but he also has been playing all season and had good stretches too." -Matt Williams on Ryan Zimmerman's struggles

On the year, the 30-year-old third-turned-first baseman finished the first of two with the Yankees in New York with a .209/.265/.346 line 56 games and 234 plate appearances into his eleventh major league season, with 12 doubles and five home runs on the year.

When he spoke about his struggles recently, including the Washington Post's Chelsea Janes , Zimmerman said that the issue was no worse than what each player in the clubhouse is dealing with on an everyday basis.

Williams was asked after Monday night's game if it was just a funk or something more?

"We can't see anything more than that," Williams said. "He's working hard every day. We gave him a couple days in a row off. The foot has been an issue all season, but he also has been playing all season and had good stretches too. So he's a veteran guy, he understands what he needs to do to get out of it, he doesn't panic nor are we. We need him to play and he'll be very productive for us at the end of the day."

[ed. note - "Portions of this report were reprinted from yesterday's post game."]

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