Ryan Zimmerman took batting practice yesterday. Banged one off the left foul pole. Put another in the bleachers. Some decent knocks.
Finally, a glimmer of hope the Nationals won’t completely stink this season. Oh, they’re not escaping last place with this depleted collection of reserves, but Zimmerman’s possible return at month’s end would give Washington fans some reason to keep watching. At least, the reported 9,000 households still finding the games somewhere on the dial.
The Nats just regained outfielder Austin Kearns. Naturally, one step forward was tempered by two steps back with outfielder Elijah Dukes undergoing surgery today and fellow outfielder Lasting Milledge hurting his groin. Indeed, the Nationals are down to Cristian Guzman still healthy and 19 players reaching the disabled list. Chad Cordero will miss half of next year.
It must be the curse of the capital city. The Redskins, Wizards and Nats can’t stay healthy and Tiger Woods missed his own local tournament.
It’s getting so every time Teddy trips in the president’s race you half expect his head to pop off.
Zimmerman is the franchise’s face, though. He’s the one who wins games with walkoff homers — the one fans stop to watch bat. Missing 40 games already has left more than a hole in the Nats lineup — it left a hole in the franchise. TV ratings lag when a losing team doesn’t even have one draw for those channel surfing to stop for a moment. Attendance falls when there’s not one special player for fathers to take their sons to see on hot summer nights, much less when school resumes.
That’s why the Nats need Zimmerman — not so much to win games in an apparent losing season, but to keep the fans interested so they return next season.
Zimmerman entered the cage and manager Manny Acta watched for little things not seen from the stands. Little things that he probably won’t see for a few more sessions.
“I want to see fluidness, to get the right message from his eyes to his brain,” Acta said, “which means hitting the ball where it’s pitched and reacting to whatever the pitch is and not just him concentrating so much about his shoulder.
“It’s just one session. I’m looking forward to the next one.”
If there’s even one twinge, a setback of any sort,Zimmerman undergoes surgery and misses the rest of the season. And, there’s a case for him to do so anyway. Rehab could take a year. Suppose he blows it out in September or next spring training. Goodbye 2009. Cordero is already out for at least half of next season and probably won’t be 100 percent until 2010. The Nats don’t need their best player to join him.
You know it’s a bad year when the big news is a player taking practice swings, but Nats fans are left looking for anything positive. Maybe Zimmerman gave it to them yesterday.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
