NATIONALS NOTEBOOK
Injured Logan, Guzman May Return Soon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 24, 2007; Page E07
MIAMI, April 23 -- Washington Nationals center fielder Nook Logan and shortstop Cristian Guzman, both on the disabled list since Opening Day, headed to the team's spring training complex in Viera, Fla., Monday to begin the final steps of rehabilitation that could have them back in the lineup next week.
Logan, who has a strained left foot, spent Sunday morning running hard sprints for the first time.
ON THE FIELD Jesus Flores' two-run, ninth-inning double gives the Nationals a 4-3 win over the Marlins. Notebook: The Nationals trade left-handed reliever Ray King, the most veteran member of their pitching staff, to the Brewers for a player to be named. Boswell: The statistics show a return to normalcy in baseball and the end of the Steroid Era. Minor Leagues: Justin Maxwell has come out of the slump he was in after straining an oblique muscle by sneezing and is now hitting .423 with 24 homers. NATIONALS REPORTBy the Numbers89: Errors for the Nationals through Monday. Through 138 games a year ago, they had 113 errors. Personnel Dept.OF Ryan Langerhans hit his first homer of a 14-game stint with Class AAA Columbus on Monday, just before he was called up. "I felt a lot more comfortable," he said. "My approach was a lot better." Langerhans will be used primarily as a defensive replacement. ... The club activated LHP Micah Bowie, who hadn't pitched in the majors since June because of a hip injury. ... The club announced that Centerplate would replace Aramark as the concessionaire at the new ballpark in 2008. Quotable"He certainly was a good influence on our young pitchers, had a lot to do with some of their developments. Our clubhouse was a better place with Ray King a part of it." -- GM Jim Bowden NATIONALS JOURNALBarry Svrluga provides the latest news on the Nationals. MULTIMEDIA Podcasts: Postgame audio from Barry Svrluga and video from Washington Post Live. Slideshow: A crowd of 40,389 pack into RFK Stadium to open up the 2007 baseball season. Photos: Manny Acta returns home. Webcam: Check back daily and follow the progress of construction on the stadium. |
"From last week to this week, it's going faster than I thought," Logan said. "If you told me last week that I'd be out there running sprints, I'd have looked at you like you were crazy."
Guzman, out because of a strained left hamstring, has fielded ground balls and done side-to-side agility drills. "He feels good running," Manager Manny Acta said.
Both players likely will participate in extended spring training games this week. Acta said no decision has been made as to when or if the players would go on minor league rehabilitation assignments. Though Logan likely will go back into center, moving Ryan Church to left, Acta hasn't said where Guzman will fit.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said.
Bullpen Strains
Even with right-hander Jerome Williams offering nearly nothing Sunday in a 12-6 loss to Florida, Acta knew he had only three relievers he felt he could use -- setup man Jon Rauch, closer Chad Cordero and Levale Speigner "in an emergency," Acta said, "and myself if they allowed me to pitch."
The strain on the bullpen is already starting to show. In seven games last week, Rauch and Saul Rivera appeared in five apiece, Cordero and Ryan Wagner each pitched four times. Through Sunday, Rauch was tied for the National League lead with 12 appearances, while Micah Bowie (11) and Jesus Colome and Wagner (10 each) were all in the top 10.
This likely will be a recurring theme. Washington's starting pitchers are averaging less than 5 1/3 innings, second fewest in the National League. Thus, the bullpen has already thrown an average of four innings a day.
