Trio of Washington Nationals Have Surgery

Three key Nats player undergo surgical procedures.

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

According to a series of tweets from Mark Zuckerman from CSN Washington, he reveals that three Washington Nationals players had procedures performed yesterday. These aren’t your ordinary players either.

First was a tweet stating that pitcher Stephen Strasburg had bone chips removed from his right elbow. Any throwing will resume in 4-6 weeks. This could be a partial explanation why Strasburg left a pair of August outings early (one after 27 pitches and another after 22 pitches) and missed a turn in the rotation in September.

But if you simply glance over Strasburg’s numbers for August and September, you see that he was 3-0 (in 9 starts) with and ERA of 2.91 and a WHIP of 0.968. More Strasburg-like, for sure.

Another tweet stated that Bryce Harper, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, had a procedure on his left knee to debride and repair the bursa sac.

After a torrid April (.344/.430/.720 with 9 HR and 18 RBI), Harper faced knee issues and missed sometime, particularly in May when he started only 17 games. After May, Harper did perform a little better for the remainder of the season (.266/.358/.431, 8 HR, 35 RBI).

The final Nats player Zuckerberg noted was Adam LaRoche. LaRoche had “loose bodies” removed from his left elbow.

After finishing sixth in the 2012 NL MVP voting, LaRoche struggled to a triple-slash of .237/.332/.403 for 2013. After smacking 33 home runs last season, he countered that with only 20 for 2013. He drove in 100 in 2012 and replied with only 62 this past season. LaRoche played in only two fewer games in 2013 as compared to 2012. His average and slugging were both down significantly (.271 and .510 in 2012).

For last year LaRoche also won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger. He inked a two-year, $24 million dollar deal, with a 2015 mutual option, in January.