Will Washington Nationals get Adam Eaton back from DL for series with LA Dodgers?

Will Washington Nationals’ outfielder Adam Eaton return from the Disabled List for the start of this weekend’s three-game set with the Dodgers in LA?

Eaton, 29, was placed on the DL with what was described as a bone bruise to his left ankle back on April 11th (retroactive to 4/9), after he injured the ankle (which he’d sprained when he stumbled at first base and suffered a season-ending knee injury last April) sliding into home plate back on April 5th, but he played in two games after that before deciding that it needed some rest.

“I think our mindset is a week of kind of relaxing,” Eaton explained after he landed on the 10-Day DL, “and then going from there with speeding everything up.

“The nice thing about it is it only hurts when I walk and jog, lifting is fine, sprinting is fine, throwing is fine, hitting is fine, so I think once we realistically get to walking and jogging and [get] that bone healed, we should be able to get off and running relatively quickly, no pun intended, with rehab and then getting back out there, so very weird rehab process.”

Earlier this week, Nationals’ skipper Davey Martinez discussed the possibility of getting his leadoff man back for the start of this weekend’s three-game series in Chavez Ravine when he was asked if Eaton would return when he was eligible to come off the DL.

“We’re hoping to get him back as soon as possible, but like I said, he’s going through all the stages of trying to get back,” Martinez explained.

“I know he ran a little bit today [on Monday], so he’s feeling a little bit better every day, so we’ll see what happens.”

The Nationals have struggled out of the gate, with losses in 10 of 15 games following a 4-0 start, but some of the expected everyday regulars returning could provide a much-needed boost.

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Eaton is working his way back. Brian Goodwin could return to the bench relatively soon.

Anthony Rendon’s sore toe has kept him out of the lineup since the 13th.

Daniel Murphy, who’s still recovering from offseason knee surgery, took a step or two in his rehab this week, getting at bats, running the bases, and fielding ground balls in West Palm Beach as he progresses towards a return.

There are games to play now, however, and that’s what the available players are focused on until the injured players are able to return Martinez said, though he acknowledged getting the aforementioned players back could help start to turn things around.

“Even without them we still have to go out and play the game. Having them, of course. But without them, look we’ve been in all the games so far this year, we’ve just got to clean up a [few] things. The baserunning has got to get better. I looked back at some of the things yesterday. The two-strike home runs, we’ve got to start staying away from that, and making our pitches, but all in all, I’m proud of the way our guys are going about their business, they’re playing hard, we’ve been in every game, and we’ve just got to keep pushing.”