While the Los Angeles Dodgers skidded to a 1-5 record after clinching the National League West, the Washington Nationals are limping into the 2016 NL Division Series. Washington went 5-3 after clinching the NL East, which included taking two of three from the Miami Marlins over the weekend.
However, their final stretch of games came at a cost. All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos suffered a torn ACL that’s forcing him to the miss the postseason, and Jayson Werth was removed from Friday’s game due to back tightness.
Werth remarked that he didn’t believe the injury was serious, though the 37-year-old outfielder didn’t play in any of the Nationals’ final two games.
Meanwhile, Michael Taylor is said to have sustained a left thumb injury from a head-first slide in the fifth inning on Saturday. According to Bill Ladson of MLB.com, Taylor underwent an MRI:
Taylor had an MRI exam on his thumb Sunday morning to check if there was any ligament damage, but the results were not revealed as of early Sunday afternoon.
Results of Taylor’s MRI were not available as of early Monday morning. The 25-year-old began the 2016 with the Nationals, but was with their Triple-A affiliate from July 28-Aug. 28.
Taylor played sporadically throughout September and isn’t considered a lock to be on the Nationals’ NLDS roster even if he avoided serious injury.
In addition to Taylor, Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and relief pitcher Koda Glover are dealing with some form of injury:
Ryan Zimmerman is dealing with a calf injury, but he is expected to be ready for the postseason. Koda Glover, who’s on the postseason roster bubble, hasn’t seen action this week because of hip issues.
Zimmerman did not play in Sunday’s regular-season finale. He hit .218/.272/.370, far below career averages, over 115 games. Zimmerman was particularly poor after the All-Star break, batting just .212/.247/.308.
Nationals manager Dusty Baker is hopeful second baseman Daniel Murphy will recover from a buttocks injury in time for Game 1 on Friday. Murphy lined out in a pinch-hit appearance on Sunday. Stephen Strasburg begun throwing but remains unlikely to return from a strained flexor mass in his right elbow.
