clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Nationals take on Reds without Denard Span (back) or Yunel Escobar (hamstring) in lineup

Washington Nationals' infielder Yunel Escobar and outfielder Denard Span left last night's game with injury issues, and neither of them are in the lineup tonight against the Reds for the second game of three for Cincinnati in D.C.

By Patrick Reddington
Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

It's getting ridiculous at this point. With Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon already on the DL, Denard Span and Yunel Escobar both left last night's game with injury issues.

Washington Nationals' skipper Matt Williams didn't seem too thrilled to have to be talking about injuries again after the Nats' loss to the Reds.

"He's strengthening. He's stretching. The trainers are doing everything that they can possibly do. So we'll just continue to monitor, continue to do what we're doing..." -Matt Williams on Denard Span's back issues

"Yunel left the game with left hamstring tightness," Williams said.

"Is it serious?" a reporter asked.

"It's too early to speculate."

"How did he hurt it?"

"The slow roller that he hit to third."

And Span? Was it the back again? The 31-year-old outfielder has been dealing with back spasms for several weeks now, so the assumption, when he left the series opener with Cincinnati after two innings, was that his back locked up on him again. Williams said it was the case, in spite of all they've done to try to help him get past it.

"We've changed programs," Williams said. "He's strengthening. He's stretching.

"The trainers are doing everything that they can possibly do. So we'll just continue to monitor, continue to do what we're doing and some days it's great, some days it just pops up on him."

Williams wasn't about to feel sorry for himself or the Nationals, however.

"Not going to do it. Ain't going to do it. Got games to play."

The Nats will play tonight's game against the Reds without Span or Escobar apparently, though Williams is still an hour away from meeting with the media today, so there's no update on either player's status. When the lineup was released this afternoon, however, neither of them were penciled in:

We talked about the injury bug biting again, Fister's outing and more on last night's edition of Nats Nightly:

Check Out Baseball Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Nats Nightly on BlogTalkRadio

More From Federal Baseball