UPDATE: The Washington Nationals, after the writing of this post, called up infielder Adrian Sanchez from Triple-A Fresno. According to MASN’s Mark Zuckerman, General Manager Mike Rizzo said he does not believe Carter Kieboom is ready for a call-up yet.
Washington Nationals prospect Carter Kieboom is a likely candidate to be called up as a response to Trea Turner’s index finger injury.
The Washington Nationals will likely call up prospect Carter Kieboom 360 days earlier than they would have liked.
Last night, starting shortstop Trea Turner broke his right index finger. Well, technically, Phillies starting pitcher Zach Eflin broke it after hitting Turner with a pitch.
Regardless of whose fault the “breaking” is, Turner is going to miss a significant amount of time. There is currently no timetable for his return.
For those who wish to speculate, Drew Silva of NBC Sports mentioned on Twitter that, in 2015, Cubs infielder Javier Baez missed seven weeks with a similar injury. However, that was to Baez’s glove hand, while Turner’s injury is to his throwing hand.
This is a monstrous loss for the Nationals who already had a laundry list of problems before Eflin threw his ill-fated pitch.
To start his 2019 season, Turner went 5-13 with two home runs and four stolen bases. Both home runs came last Sunday against the Mets, including a walk-off home run.
Without his bat in the lineup for the foreseeable future, a roster move is necessary. This means, in all likelihood, Kieboom will join the 25-man roster.
Kieboom is the Nationals’ No. 2 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. He is sandwiched between Victor Robles and Luis Garcia.
The other primary option to replace Turner is Wilmer Difo.
Difo will likely draw the majority of the starts while Turner is on the Injured List due to his experience playing shortstop and his general Major League experience, something Kieboom lacks.
In his Nationals career, Difo has batted .250 with a .669 OPS. Difo is a slightly above average fielder, but so is Turner so the Nats will feel this loss more in the batter’s box.
After the events of Tuesday night’s game, this is the last thing the Nationals could afford. The schedule outlook is not good, either.
After facing Aaron Nola on Wednesday, the Nats begin a six-game road trip against, who else, the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets.