Yunel Escobar leaves game with apparent hand/wrist injury

Washington Nationals third baseman Yunel Escobar left Wednesday afternoon's game with the New York Mets with an apparent wrist injury. It seemed like something popped in Escobar's wrist when he attempted to check his swing on an inside fastball from Mets starter Noah Syndergaard. Escobar lost the bat and fell to his back on the plate. The trainers came out and spent some time with Escobar, who decided to remain in the game, but dropped the bat again after fouling off the next pitch and just walked to the dugout.

We won't know just how serious this injury is until (at least) after the game, but this isn't the first time that Escobar has dealt with an injury to the hand/wrist this season. He left a game on June 5 with discomfort in his right wrist. He left a game on June 26 after being hit on the left hand. It's possible that he aggravated one of those two injuries. Whatever the case, the way that Escobar just walked off the field certainly didn't look encouraging for his status in the short-term.

It could be interesting to see how the Nats react to Escobar's injury before heading to Pittsburgh tomorrow. They just sent Wilmer Difo down on Tuesday, but could call him up before ten days are up provided that he's replacing a player that's headed to the disabled list. Anthony Rendon has been rehabbing in Potomac, but has yet to play a full game in the field. AAA shortstop Trea Turner could be a third option if the Nats wanted to make room on the 40 man roster, but that seems unlikely. The 40 man is full right now, and they're already going to have to make room soon for a rehabbing Jayson Werth, who was transferred to the 60 day disabled list earlier this week.

If Escobar's injury is going to require a DL stint, the most likely option would seem to be accelerating Anthony Rendon's rehab assignment. He has three games of his rehab assignment under his belt, and is a natural third baseman who wouldn't be expected to have any trouble filling Escobar's spot in the lineup. With the problems that Rendon has had staying healthy in 2015, the ideal scenario would be to allow him to work his way back at his own pace, but this is certainly not an ideal world. Desperate times call for desperate measures.