Washington Nationals infielder Yunel Escobar left Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies with a strained groin and it is unclear whether he will be able to play Saturday.
After the game, which Washington won, 7-2, manager Matt Williams said he did not yet know the severity of Escobar’s injury.
“We’ll see how he wakes up tomorrow and how he feels,” Williams said. “So we’ll have more information on that in the morning. He says he feels OK, but we’ll see how he wakes up, how sore he is tomorrow.”
Escobar hit a ground ball toward the shortstop in the fourth inning and sprinted down the first-base line, grabbing his groin as he touched the bag. He stood in the grass with his hands on his knees before walking slowly back to the dugout. Dan Uggla promptly replaced Escobar to begin the fifth, entering the game at second base while Danny Espinosa shifted to third.
Escobar missed one game with a left groin strain in May 2012, when he was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. He sustained the injury under similar circumstances — trying to beat out a ground ball — but was not placed on the disabled list.
Escobar left Nationals Park shortly after Friday’s game and was not seen by reporters in the clubhouse.
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Even if Escobar were only to miss a handful of games, the team would likely need to make a roster move to bring up an additional infielder. Escobar’s absence would leave the Nationals with only four infielders, not including Tyler Moore and Clint Robinson, who can each play first base. Without moving Ryan Zimmerman to third, they would have nobody to back up Espinosa, Uggla or Ian Desmond should any of them sustain an injury.
The only other healthy infielder on Washington’s 40-man roster is Wilmer Difo, who plays at Single-A Potomac. However, the Nationals could clear a roster spot by moving Craig Stammen to the 60-day disabled list. Should the Nationals decide they need to make a move, Ian Stewart, Cutter Dykstra and Emmanuel Burriss are all logical candidates to join the team.
When asked Friday night about a possible roster move, Williams was noncommittal.
“The only way that we’d have anybody here is if he’s DLed, so we’ll see how that all plays out tomorrow,” he said. “But as of right now he says he feels OK, so we’ll evaluate that, we’ll get him here and get some treatment and evaluate how he’s feeling and go from there.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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