Washington Nationals’ Starlin Castro’s season is likely over

The Nationals suffered their biggest injury loss to date of 2020 when second baseman Starlin Castro broke his right wrist while diving to make a play at second base in the concluding innings of the Nationals 6-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

It was the resumption of a game started five days ago in Washington and suspended due to unplayable field conditions after a rain storm.

The decision to resume the game and play it out turned out to be a bad one for Castro, who had been the Nationals’ most consistent hitter, slashing .283/.317./.467 while batting third in the order in each of the team’s 16 games this season.

The bad break came shortly after play resumed at Oriole Park, with the Nats as the home team, trailing 5-2 with a man on third and two out in the top of the sixth inning.

Castro ranged to his left to glove down Bryan Holaday’s dribbler shallow right, but in diving for the ball, he rolled his right (throwing) wrist and came up unable to throw the ball.

Holaday was given a single, and Dwight Smith scored from third on the play.

A postgame X-ray revealed the broken wrist, and while Castro was placed on the 10-day injured list, the injury most likely ends his season, with a little more than six weeks to play in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

The 30-year-old journeyman infielder came to the Nats as a free agent last offseason, signing for two years and $12 million. He hit consistently throughout the season and had homered one inning — and five days — earlier at Nationals Park to account for the only two Nats runs of the game.

To take his place on the roster, the Nats called up 20-year-old Luis Garcia, the team’s top prospect to start Friday’s regularly scheduled game.

Garcia last played in 2019 for Double-A Harrisburg, slashing .257/.280/.337 with 22 doubles, four triples, and four home runs.