Adam Eaton

Adam Eaton Undergoes Ankle Surgery

By Steve Adams | May 10, 2018 at 6:06pm CDT

Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his injured left ankle today, reports Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post had reported yesterday that Eaton was visiting a specialist in Wisconsin, and that evaluation revealed a “cartilage problem” that necessitated the operation, per Magruder. Eaton remains in a walking boot, and there is not presently a timetable for his return, per Magruder.

More specifically, Janes adds (via Twitter) that three different doctors were unable to see the source of pain in Eaton’s ankle on either MRIs or bone scans, but the scope revealed a tear in his chondral flap, explaining the pain he’d been experiencing. MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko tweets that Eaton’s ankle will be immobilized for a week, but a return this season is still “in play.”

The ankle procedure is yet another roadblock in Eaton’s short career with the Nationals since being traded over from the White Sox during the 2016 Winter Meetings. The fleet-footed outfielder missed the majority of the 2017 campaign when he tore the ACL in his left knee early last year, and he played in just eight games with the Nats in 2018 before injuring his ankle on a foot-first slide.

When healthy, Eaton has been nothing short of brilliant for the Nats, hitting .308/.400/.508 in 140 trips to the plate, but he’s unfortunately been able to suit up only 31 times for the organization. Of course, the very reason that the Nationals were willing to part with three highly touted pitching prospects — Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Dane Dunning — in order to acquire Eaton was that he was controlled so affordably and for such a long time. They’ll still have plenty of time to reap value from their investment in the 29-year-old, as he’s locked up through the 2021 season at a total of $34.4MM (with the final $20MM of that sum coming in the form of two club options for 2020-21).

[Related: Washington Nationals depth chart]

With Eaton now sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Nats will continue to utilize Michael A. Taylor in center field, with Bryce Harper in his customary right field. Left field has been manned by a platoon of hot-hitting Matt Adams and Howie Kendrick of late, though the Nats also have Andrew Stevenson and Moises Sierra on the big league roster as outfield options at present, with Rafael Bautista in Triple-A as another 40-man option. Top prospect Victor Robles is also on the 40-man roster, but he’s nursing an elbow injury at the moment, and the Nats don’t want to recall him unless he’s able to receive everyday at-bats.

East Notes: Betts, Eaton, Phillies, Clippard

By Steve Adams | May 9, 2018 at 10:24pm CDT

Mookie Betts tells WEEI’s Rob Bradford that nothing has changed on his end regarding a potential extension with the Red Sox, as the 25-year-old still has no intention of discussing a long-term deal during the season. Controlled for just two years beyond the current campaign, Betts’ increasing proximity to free agency and his continually elevated level of play have priced a theoretical extension out of bargain territory and into a massive financial undertaking, as Bradford examines. Certainly, that’s the case with any young star as he navigates through the arbitration process, but Betts already has one record arbitration payday in his back pocket, and he’s turning in the best season of his young career thus far. The $30MM annual rate that Jose Altuve secured on his recent extension with the Astros seems like an increasingly relevant comp, if not a baseline, Bradford posits in highlighting the difficulties that the Sox could face in locking up their brightest young star.

More from the game’s Eastern divisions…

Adam Eaton’s ankle injury doesn’t appear to be healing as well as the Nationals’ might’ve hoped, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports that Eaton is traveling to Wisconsin to be evaluated by a specialist. He’ll meet with orthopedic surgeon Robert Anderson, currently on the Green Bay Packers’ medical staff but also a renowned surgeon who has worked with high-profile athletes ranging from Steph Curry to Cam Newton to Derek Jeter. Eaton has been on the disabled list for nearly a month after suffering an ankle injury on a slide early in the 2018 season.
The Phillies announced tonight that they’ve activated right-hander Ben Lively from the 10-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 26-year-old Lively opened the season in Philadelphia’s rotation but struggled to a 6.85 ERA in 23 2/3 innings before landing on the disabled list with a back strain. In his absence, fellow righty Zach Eflin stepped into the rotation and has been outstanding in two starts, yielding a run on seven hits and three walks with 13 strikeouts in 12 2/3 innings. He’ll remain in the rotation over Lively for now, and as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted yesterday, a continued hot streak from Eflin could force the Phils to make some tough decisions. GM Matt Klentak has already stated that Jerad Eickhoff will be in the rotation when he returns from the DL later this month, thus pitting Eflin against righties Vince Velasquez and Nick Pivetta for the final two rotation spots behind Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta. Of course, things can change quickly in the coming weeks, either with a downturn in Eflin’s performance or another injury elsewhere on the roster.
With Roberto Osuna on administrative leave and under league investigation, the Blue Jays turned to Tyler Clippard with their first save opportunity. Jays manager John Gibbons deployed setup men Seung Hwan Oh, John Axford and Ryan Tepera in the middle innings on Wednesday evening with his team trailing before handing the ninth inning over to Clippard, who worked a scoreless inning with a pair of strikeouts. While Wednesday’s sequence of events doesn’t necessarily anoint Clippard the closer during Osuna’s absence, it does at least suggest that he’s the early favorite for the role. Signed to a minor league deal this March, Clippard has given the Jays 19 1/3 innings of 1.40 ERA ball with 10.2 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9. He’s running up a staggeringly low 18.6 percent ground-ball rate, however, which could well be a portent for further homer troubles down the line. As a reminder for fantasy players, you can track ninth-inning situations throughout the game by following MLBTR’s @CloserNews account on Twitter and by utilizing Jason Martinez’s closer depth chart over at Roster Resource.

Injury Notes: Teheran, Buchter, Giants, Donaldson, Schoop, Nats

By Jeff Todd | April 27, 2018 at 10:57pm CDT

Braves righty Julio Teheran left his outing today with what the team is calling “right upper trap tightness.” He had shown a concerning velocity drop before departing, as David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets. The 27-year-old Teheran entered the day with a 4.00 ERA in his 27 innings, while carrying a career-best 12.8% swinging-strike rate, but gave up three earned in his three frames. It seems generally promising that there’s a muscular explanation for Teheran’s sudden loss of velo, though of course that does not necessarily mean he’s out of the woods and we’ll have to await further word.

Here’s the latest on some other health situations around the league:

The Athletics have placed southpaw Ryan Buchter on the DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Danny Coulombe. At this point, the team plans to shut Buchter down for at least ten days and possibly longer, as MLB.com’s Jane Lee tweets. The 31-year-old southpaw, who was acquired over the offseason, has been quite good thus far for the A’s. He’s carrying a 1.69 ERA with 9.3 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 10 2/3 innings.
While the Giants will hold off on putting Mac Williamson on the DL, he’s in the concussion protocol at present, as manager Bruce Bochy informed reporters including Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). In the meantime, the organization has brought fellow outfielder Austin Slater onto the active roster, creating space by sending reliever Josh Osich to the 10-day DL. It’s unclear at this point how long Slater will have in the majors, but he’ll surely be hoping to follow the same track as Williamson, who kept on raking after receiving a promotion. Slater owns a .358/.435/.642 slash with just six strikeouts in his 62 plate appearances on the year at Triple-A.
Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson is beginning his rehab assignment tomorrow, as the team announced. He’ll open as a DH as he eases back into action, though the real test will come when he puts his throwing back on display at game speed. There’s similarly good news for the division-rival Orioles, who expect to send second baseman Jonathan Schoop on a brief rehab assignment next week, as Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com tweets. He has been out for two weeks with an oblique strain.
The Nationals, who are still waiting for a trio of important players, gave some updates today. (Links to the Twitter feed of Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com.) Third baseman Anthony Rendon is reasonably close and is expected to return in relatively short order after a brief stint on the shelf. It’s not quite as rosy for outfielder Adam Eaton, who has seemingly had some ups and downs in rehabbing his ankle issues, but — GM Mike Rizzo emphasized — also has not experienced any setbacks. As for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has yet to play at all following offseason knee surgery, there’s still no timeline for a return.
A number of other players are already coming off of the DL. The Reds have activated righty David Hernandez and the Mariners have brought back first baseman Ryon Healy. Both were relatively significant offseason acquisitions for their organizations. Meanwhile, the Rays activated infielder Matt Duffy and the Rangers did the same with righty Tony Barnette.

Nationals Place Adam Eaton On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | April 11, 2018 at 8:33am CDT

The Nationals have placed outfielder Adam Eaton on the 10-day DL, as Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post reported was likely to occur. Eaton will be replaced by outfielder Moises Sierra, whose promotion required some other roster machinations.

Eaton is not dealing with any new problems in his surgically-repaired left knee, but rather has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left ankle. That joint was also damaged last year, though it seems the new problem is not expected to pose any major new obstacles. Just how long he’ll be out remains to be seen and will likely be dictated both by how he responds to treatment and by how the roster shakes out in the meantime.

While it unquestionably hurts the Nats to see Eaton go back on the shelf, the veteran noted there are some silver linings here. “[W]e’re really going to concentrate on strength and the process of getting it better,” he said of his left leg. “And get my quad correct and everything. And work on things we kind of ran out of time in spring training so this might be a little blessing in disguise.”

As for Sierra, the 29-year-old hasn’t tasted the majors since back in 2014. But he has performed well since joining the Nationals on a minors deal, turning in a strong spring performance and opening the season well at Triple-A. In all likelihood, Brian Goodwin will take the bulk of the time in left, with Sierra supplementing him as needed. The club could have turned to Andrew Stevenson, who is already on the 40-man, but he has scuffled early at Syracuse after a reasonably promising spring.

Of course, the open spot might have gone to top prospect Victor Robles, who could well have commanded a MLB job to open the season had it not been for the full mix of outfielders already ahead of him. But Robles left a recent game after a cringe-inducing effort at a diving catch.

Fortunately, x-rays on Robles’s arm were negative, as Castillo reports (Twitter links). He has only been diagnosed to this point with a hyperextended elbow, though ligament or other damage has yet to be ruled out since a complete examination will not be possible until the swelling in the joint has subsided. The Nats organization, which no doubt views the much-hyped Robles as an excellent insurance policy and potential mid-season roster addition, is undoubtedly hoping that he has escaped a significant injury.

NL Notes: Reds, Nats, Brewers, Braves, Cubs

By Connor Byrne | March 11, 2018 at 3:25pm CDT

Injuries continue to plague Reds right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who’s now dealing with an oblique issue, C. Trent Rosecrans was among those to report (Twitter links). There’s no timetable for DeSclafani’s return, per Rosecrans, who adds that he “felt discomfort” during his start Friday and then underwent an MRI. DeSclafani previously missed two months during the 2016 campaign with an oblique injury, and then sat out all of last season with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament, depriving the Reds of one of their top players. When he was available from 2014-15, DeSclafani logged a 3.74 ERA/3.79 FIP with 7.48 K/9 and 2.48 BB/9 across 308 innings.

Injury Notes: Gurriel, Frazier, Gausman, Stroman, Thornburg, Eaton

By Jeff Todd | February 27, 2018 at 1:13pm CDT

The Astros have shipped first baseman Yuli Gurriel to Houston so his injured hand can be evaluated, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). At this point, the situation is more or less a mystery, with no real indication how the issue arose or just what the club is concerned about. Clearly, though, the team’s training staff has found cause to get a closer look from a specialist.

Here’s more on some injury situations from around the game:

Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier has been diagnosed with a concussion, tweets MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Frazier made a leaping catch in yesterday’s Grapefruit League game against the Pirates and stumbled a bit before falling backwards and hitting his head against the base of the left-field wall (video link). Manager Aaron Boone said Frazier will be down for “a few days” and acknowledged the seemingly optimistic nature of that timeline. Frazier is far from a lock to make the Opening Day roster in New York with Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge and Jacoby Ellsbury all on the roster, but he remains a key potential long-term piece for the Yanks.
It seems that Orioles righty Kevin Gausman has largely shaken off a home-plate collision yesterday, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com writes. The young starter, who is a key factor in the team’s hopes for the coming season, says he “feel[s] pretty good” on the whole despite slamming into Tigers youngster Jeimer Candelario. For the time being, at least, Gausman is expected to take the ball for his next scheduled spring outing.
The outlook is at least a bit more worrisome for Blue Jays righty Marcus Stroman. Per MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, shoulder inflammation is holding Stroman back. Though he has already been cleared by an MRI of structural concerns, Stroman will rest up in hopes of moving past a problem that has evidently been going on for a few weeks. The key Jays hurler says he’s hoping to be fully ramped up for “the very beginning of the start of the season,” even if it’s not Opening Day, though surely the organization will proceed with caution.
The Red Sox will welcome reliever Tyler Thornburg back to the hill for the first time since he underwent surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe reports on Twitter. A bullpen session is just one of many steps back, of course, and Thornburg still has some hurdles to clear. He has yet to pitch competitively for the Boston organization (excepting brief spring action last year) since coming over in a trade in advance of the 2017 season.
Indications are that Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton is largely progressing well after a long layoff for a torn ACL. As Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes, though, Eaton has yet to appear in game action. That appears to be less a reflection of Eaton’s surgically repaired joint than it is a planned effort to build him up deliberately. “We’re going to take it and be methodical and do it right for the first time and make sure I’m overcooked, so to speak, before I go out there.” While it’s surely tempting to max out Eaton’s reps after a lost season, skipper Davey Martinez emphasized the primary goal is to have Eaton at full speed come Opening Day.
The rival Mets are reporting shoulder and back soreness for Yoenis Cespedes and Jacob deGrom, respectively, but those don’t seem to be real concerns at this point, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. However, the New York organization is likely to hold back first baseman Dominic Smith for a while after he was diagnosed with a strained quad. He already seemed to face a difficult task of cracking the Opening Day roster, so this setback is not likely to help the cause. (New reliever Anthony Swarzak just left his relief appearance with an apparent calf injury, as Mike Puma of the New York Post was among those to tweet, though details are sparse at this time.)

East Notes: Glover, Eaton, Moreland, Rays

By charliewilmoth | June 11, 2017 at 7:50pm CDT

The Nationals have announced that they’ve placed closer Koda Glover on the 10-day DL with lower back stiffness. They’ve replaced him on their active roster with Joe Blanton, who had been out with a shoulder injury. After struggling against the Rangers on Saturday, Glover told the Nationals he had hurt his back while in the shower. In the short term, Glover’s injury could clear the way for Matt Albers to pick up saves chances. In the longer term, the Nationals could still acquire a closer from outside the organization, having been connected to a number of names recently. Here’s more from the East divisions.

Nats outfielder Adam Eaton says he’s “ahead of schedule” in his return from a torn ACL, writes Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post. Eaton isn’t sure exactly how far ahead of schedule he is, and his chances of playing again this year aren’t known, although it didn’t appear likely he would at the time of the injury. He’s keeping an eye toward the future. “Not just this year, not just next year, but the longevity of my career and how it may be shaped by this injury,” he says of his thought process. Eaton also sounds keenly aware of fan opinions of the costly trade that brought him to Washington. “I hope my presence here is felt, just in the sense that I’m dedicated to them just as they’ve been dedicated to me. The trade this offseason probably wasn’t the most popular one, but I love this city,” says Eaton. The outfielder remains signed through 2019 with reasonable club options for 2020 and 2021, so there will be time for him to contribute to the Nationals once he heals.
The Red Sox’ signing of first baseman Mitch Moreland rather than Edwin Encarnacion looks like a good one, Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com writes. Moreland’s offense so far this season has been the best of his career — he’s currently batting .281/.382/.492 with 26 extra-base hits. Encarnacion, meanwhile, has hit .245/.351/.446 with Cleveland, although he’s hit well recently. Interestingly, FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi tweeted today that Moreland turned down more money from the Indians to play for the Red Sox.
With the arrival of this week’s amateur draft, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times ranks the Rays’ top choices in each year of their existence. It should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the (Devil) Rays’ history that Topkin finds some brutal misses, including 2001 third overall pick Dewon Brazelton and 2005 eighth overall pick Wade Townsend (who the Rays selected from a star-studded class while Andrew McCutchen and Jay Bruce remained on the board). 2006 third overall pick Evan Longoria and 2007 first overall selection David Price were big successes, though, and 2003 first overall pick Delmon Young helped the Rays acquire Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett, leading to their first playoff berth.

NL Notes: Nationals, D-backs, Dodgers, Cards

By Connor Byrne | April 30, 2017 at 4:45pm CDT

Even though he’s facing a six- to nine-month recovery from his torn left ACL, Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton isn’t abandoning hope on playing again this season. “I’m going to work my butt off and give myself the best-case scenario to play,” Eaton told reporters, including Jamal Collier of MLB.com. “This year would be great, and if that is the case, that means we are playing in October, that is for sure.” Cubs left fielder/catcher Kyle Schwarber suffered multiple torn knee ligaments last April but was able to suit up again in late October for the World Series, of course, so it’s not impossible to imagine Eaton returning if the Nats get that far. However, Schwarber got hurt in early April, giving him a three-week head start on Eaton; further, unlike Eaton’s game, Schwarber’s isn’t predicated largely on either speed or defense. It’s also worth noting that Schwarber was not healthy enough to play the field during the Fall Classic, instead serving as a pinch-hitter in Chicago and a designated hitter in Cleveland.

When announcing Eaton’s injury Sunday, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo mentioned that he’s confident in the team’s in-house center field options. Right fielder Bryce Harper and shortstop Trea Turner, both of whom have center field experience, are not among the possibilities to grab the reins from Eaton, according to manager Dusty Baker. When asked Sunday if he’d consider using either Harper or Turner in center, Baker responded (via Eddie Matz of ESPN.com): “No. Leave my team alone.”

For Washington on Sunday, life without Eaton began with a 23-5 drubbing of the NL East rival Mets. Harper hit a home run and reached base four times, but his performance paled in comparison to Anthony Rendon’s. The third baseman had an afternoon for the ages, going 6 for 6 with three homers and 10 RBI. In the process, Rendon became the 13th player in major league history to knock in double-digit runs in a single game.

Here’s more from the NL:

The Diamondbacks project Archie Bradley as a long-term starter, but the right-hander won’t go back to the rotation in the wake of Shelby Miller’s season-ending elbow injury, manager Torey Lovullo announced Sunday (via Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com). “He will remain in our bullpen,” Lovullo said of Bradley. “The way we look at it is he’s been pretty dominant in the bullpen.” With a 1.20 ERA, 10.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 15 innings, the 24-year-old Bradley has indeed been almost untouchable as a reliever this season. Bradley wasn’t nearly as good as a starter from 2015-16, a 177 1/3-inning stretch in which he recorded a 5.18 ERA, 8.42 K/9 and 4.52 BB/9. While it’s a certainty that he’ll stay in the bullpen, it’s unclear who will take Miller’s spot in the rotation. “Those are the discussions we’re having,” Lovullo stated. “And within the system there are a variety of options for us. So, we’ll hammer that out. That’s a discussion we’ll be having as a group over the next few days.”
Dodgers outfielders Joc Pederson and Franklin Gutierrez are nearing returns from the disabled list, relays Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links here). Pederson, who hit the DL with a groin injury this past Monday, will begin a rehab assignment at Single-A on Wednesday. The Dodgers’ hope is that he’ll be ready for activation Friday. Gutierrez, down since April 12 with a hamstring strain, started a rehab assignment of his own at Class-A on Saturday. With those two coming back, top prospect Cody Bellinger will likely return to Triple-A. The 21-year-old homered twice in the Dodgers’ improbable win over the Phillies on Saturday, contributing significantly to the excellent .316/.409/.632 line he has posted across his first 22 major league plate appearances.
It seems Cardinals third baseman Jhonny Peralta’s DL stint is largely the result of a bad reaction to medication, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. Peralta began taking pills toward the end of spring training in an effort to combat an upper respiratory infection, but they only worsened his condition and left him feeling “dizzy” and lethargic. Manager Mike Matheny took notice. “We watched him throughout most of spring and it was, ‘Hey, he’s really moving well, he looks strong.’ And then something hit a point and I started asking the medical guys, ‘Is there anything going on?’ Yeah, he has some upper respiratory stuff. But let’s look into this. It just doesn’t look right. Jhonny was really good about being honest about how he was feeling and not doing the, ‘I’m just going to grind and go.’” Peralta is now on the right track, fortunately, having stopped taking the medication. He could rejoin the Cardinals as early as May 8, per Goold.

Adam Eaton Suffers Torn ACL, Meniscus

By Connor Byrne | April 30, 2017 at 10:15am CDT

SUNDAY: Rizzo confirmed Eaton’s ACL tear on Sunday, adding that he also suffered a torn meniscus and a high ankle sprain. Eaton will face a six- to nine-month recovery period after he undergoes surgery, which the Nats haven’t scheduled yet (Twitter links via Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post). For at least the time being, Rizzo expects to replace Eaton from within, noting that center field is one of the organization’s deepest positions.

SATURDAY: Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Friday and will miss the rest of the season, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). The injury occurred when Eaton beat out an infield single in the ninth inning of a 7-5 loss to the Mets. Eaton stepped on first base awkwardly and was then unable to put any weight on his left leg, forcing him to exit the game (video via MLB.com).

Entering Saturday, Eaton had been among the red-hot Nationals’ best players in his first month as a member of the club. The top-of-the-order hitter slashed an impressive .297/.393/.462 with two home runs and three steals across 107 plate appearances. In the process, the 28-year-old may have quelled some doubts about the Nationals’ decision to trade a significant haul to the White Sox for him over the winter.

Washington gave up three well-regarded pitching prospects, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning, for Eaton, leading to widespread criticism of Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo. However, Eaton had been a terrific offensive player in Chicago over the previous three years, and he drew great marks for his defense in both the 2014 and ’16 campaigns. Further, Eaton carries an appealing contract, one that could max out at an eminently reasonable $38.4MM through the 2021 season.

It’s fair to say Rizzo’s plan for Eaton was to serve as a key cog for a potential championship contender as early as this season, and at 16-8, first-place Washington has looked the part thus far. But the loss of Eaton is undoubtedly a major blow to their roster, and it’s now unclear who will man center field going forward. For now, it’s Michael Taylor, though he has never resembled a big league regular over 814 career PAs. Both the Nationals’ best player, right fielder Bryce Harper, and shortstop Trea Turner have experience in center, but moving either from his current spot would lead to more questions. Other 40-man options to help fill Eaton’s void include Brian Goodwin and Rafael Bautista, the latter of whom the Nats promoted when they placed Eaton on the disabled list early Saturday. The club also has an elite center field prospect in Victor Robles, but he’s only 19 and has never played above the High-A level.

In the event Washington is unsatisfied with its own center fielders, it could go outside the organization for help. Pickings in free agency are slim, though, with the potentially retired Angel Pagan representing the best of a deeply flawed class of unsigned players. Notably, the Nationals aggressively pursued Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen via trade prior to landing Eaton, and the five-time All-Star could hit the block again this year if the Bucs don’t contend. However, the Nationals found the Pirates’ asking price for McCutchen to be prohibitive in the offseason. If the Nationals don’t look again to McCutchen, Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain could be a possibility, as the scuffling Royals are on track to sell off veterans this summer. The Nats already have interest in the Royals’ closer, Kelvin Herrera, and could perhaps attempt to reel in him and Cain in a package. That’s merely speculation, of course, and having already surrendered a prospect bounty for Eaton a few months ago, Rizzo might be reluctant to part with more high-end youngsters for another outfielder.

Nationals Place Adam Eaton On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | April 29, 2017 at 8:29am CDT

SATURDAY 9:13am: The Nationals have announced that they’ve placed Eaton on the DL and promoted Bautista, as anticipated. Eaton’s injury has officially been listed as a left knee strain.

8:21am: The Nats will promote outfielder Rafael Bautista to the big leagues, MASN’s Byron Kerr writes. That news would seem to indicate Eaton is headed to the DL. The 24-year-old Bautista is batting a modest .291/.325/.354 in 83 plate appearances with Triple-A Syracuse, a line roughly in keeping with the offensive skill set he’s demonstrated throughout his minor-league career — he hits well for contact and posts reasonable on-base percentages but lacks power. Bautista swiped 56 bases for Double-A Harrisburg in 2016 while only being caught ten times, indicating outstanding speed, and Kerr notes that his range is very good. MLB.com ranks Bautista 13th among Nationals prospects.

FRIDAY 9:47pm: Skipper Dusty Baker was only able to say that the club will know more after Eaton undergoes an MRI tomorrow, as Dan Kolko of MASNsports.com tweets.

9:38pm: Nationals center fielder Adam Eaton was removed from tonight’s game after suffering an apparent lower-leg injury suffered while crossing first base. There are no details yet from the club, of course, but Eaton had to be helped off without placing any weight on his left leg.

The image of Eaton grimacing in pain while being removed from the field is just about the last thing the Nationals hoped to see this evening. The 28-year-old has functioned as a key cog in a productive Nats lineup since coming over in a somewhat controversial winter trade.

Over his 102 trips to plate entering tonight’s action, Eaton carried a .291/.392/.465 batting line with a pair of long balls and three stolen bases. Though defensive metrics haven’t loved his work in center field, the jury is still out given the meager sample to date.

We’ll need to wait for further word, clearly, before leaping to any conclusions. But given the degree of pain clearly being experienced by the gritty Eaton, and the fact he wasn’t able to bear any weight on his leg, it seems at a minimum that the organization will need to expect some kind of DL placement. For the time being, the club could utilize Michael Taylor in center while also playing Bryce Harper there at times, though obviously that’s not the optimal alignment.

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