District Daily: Washington Nationals News 4/3
By Pablo Roa
Mar 27, 2014; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman
Danny Espinosa(8) throws to first against the New York Mets in spring training action at Tradition Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
Checkout some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web:
Nationals confident in Espinosa as part of future
NEW YORK — There are a lot of teams who are still inquiring about Nationals infielder Danny Espinosa, according to a baseball source, but general manager Mike Rizzo is not expected to budge. He still believes in Espinosa and feels he will be an All-Star one day.
The same source also said he would not be surprised if Espinosa was part of a starting infield that included shortstop Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman at first base and Anthony Rendon at third base in 2015.
Rizzo is not the only one who believes in Espinosa. Add manager Matt Williams to the list of people in Espinosa’s corner. Read full article here.
Lobaton feels bad for friend, teammate Ramos
(Bill Ladson and Andrew Simon, MLB.com)
NEW YORK — Nationals catcher Jose Lobaton felt bad for teammate Wilson Ramos, who is going to miss at least a month because of hamate bone surgery on his left hand. The surgery took place Wednesday, and Ramos is expected to rejoin the team in Washington on Thursday.
Ramos took to Twitter and thanked the fans for their support: “Thank you to all of you. [S]urgery went [well]. I will be back soon with the arms up. The búfalo love[s] you all,” Ramos wrote.
Ramos has had plenty of bad luck over the past three years. He missed most of the 2012 season because of a devastating injury to his right knee, and he missed half of the 2013 campaign because of hamstring issues.
Labaton spoke to Ramos on Tuesday and tried to cheer Ramos up. In turn, Ramos told Lobaton to play hard and try to win games. With Ramos out, Labaton will be the team’s No. 1 catcher. Read full article here.
Washington Nationals: Is Wilson Ramos Injury-Prone Or Just Unlucky?
For the past few seasons, there have been few players with more problems than Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos.
The winter of 2011 saw Ramos kidnapped in Venezuela, and after being rescued, he blew out his ACL in the 2012 season. After missing that whole season, Ramos returned and was hurt again as he faced hamstring problems, possibly a byproduct of the ACL surgery. Now, this season, Ramos was finally fully healthy … until Opening Day when he took a pitch off his throwing hand. He will now face surgery on his hamate bone and miss at least a month.
So, with now three straight seasons of some sort of significant injury, is Ramos officially injury-prone, or is he just downright unlucky? It’s a fair question to ask, as Ramos has yet to play more than 120 games in his career, which is somewhat alarming considering Washington considers him their everyday catcher. Read full article here.