The Nationals wanted no part of the theory that 2011 was a throwaway year anyway thanks to Stephen Strasburg‘s Tommy John surgery last summer. But without their best pitcher for at least 12 months — virtually all of this season — how were they supposed to compete?
Washington general manager Mike Rizzo did his best to add talent over the winter. He signed Jayson Werth to a massive contract. He let Adam Dunn go but added first baseman Adam LaRoche. He traded for starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny to add depth to the starting rotation in Strasburg’s absence and strengthened his bench with Rick Ankiel, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Laynce Nix.
All well and good. But those additions were never going to create enough depth to withstand another key injury — let alone the two they now face. Star third baseman Ryan Zimmerman hasn’t played since April 9. He had abdominal surgery May 3 and likely won’t return until mid-June at the earliest. That crippled a lineup that — let’s be honest — had far too many question marks anyway. Youngsters Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa are still finding their way at the plate. There isn’t an impact bat in left or center field.
Now, more bad news. It appears LaRoche, who signed a free agent contract in the offseason, will miss significant time with a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder. The veteran thought he could play through it. But even given his normally slow starts, it was clear LaRoche (.172 batting average, .546 OPS) was impaired. Surgery likely will be necessary at some point. Losing LaRoche for the season would hurt Rizzo’s biggest goal entering the year — get better defensively and watch the pitching staff follow. There is little chance Michael Morse can provide the same impact, though his bat is heating up. In reality, Washington needed a healthy Zimmerman all year and LaRoche to come close to his 25-homer, 100-RBI form of 2010 to compete. Now a run at .500 seems unlikely.
