Michael Morse Shut Down for Six Weeks

The Washington Nationals had been expecting Michael Morse to rejoin their lineup in the not too distant future as he recovered from a torn lat muscle.  However, Morse recently aggravated his injury while on minor league rehab assignment and the Nationals have said they’re shutting down their slugger for another six weeks.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters that Morse will be in “total shutdown mode” for at least the next six weeks as he continues to recover from a torn lat muscle.

This timeframe pushes Morse’s return back to around the All-Star break.  The injury represents a huge loss for the Nationals.  Morse was fantastic in 2010-11 for Washington, hitting 46 home runs and 48 doubles over the span of 788 at-bats.

While calling up phenom Bryce Harper may be an option for the Nationals down the road, that is not currently something Rizzo’s considering.  Instead, the Nationals will turn to veterans Mark DeRosa, Xavier Nady and Roger Bernadina to take on larger roles in Morse’s absence.

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