The Nationals have placed Doug Fister on the 15-day disabled list with a right lat strain, Matt Williams announced on Saturday. Fister will now be shut down for five days before throwing again and the total recovery process could take up to a month. The Nats have not determined yet whether the move is retroactive to a date in March.
Williams says the next course of action will depend on how Fister feels in five days.
“We’ll see where he’s at and then start the process of getting him back. That’s the plan. We’ll see how he goes over the next few, then get him back on his program.”
Williams wasn’t specific on the timeline, reiterating that they will not know until he begins throwing again. He called it a “moving target.”
“It’s three weeks, it’s 30 days, it depends on what we can do to get him back to full strength so that when he steps on the mound for us, he’s ready to go.”
Fister originally hurt his elbow early in spring and returned to the mound before leaving a minor league start on Thursday. It was then determined he had a right lat strain after feeling discomfort on a first inning defensive play.
“I think it’s more precaution that anything,” Williams said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with the elbow. The elbow has been fine so far, since he had the inflammation. It’s just one of those things. I don’t think it was overcompensation in any regard.
Fister’s injury allows both Tanner Roark and Taylor Jordan to make the Nationals’ roster. They had been competing for the fifth spot in the rotation throughout spring training.
Williams said the Nationals’ rotation will proceed with Roark starting the team’s home opener against the Atlanta Braves on April 4. After him Stephen Strasburg will make his second start of the season on April 5, and Jordan will then pitch that Sunday on April 6.
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