Written by Jon Tayler at SI.com
It’s a good thing for the Nationals that they have as substantial a lead as they do in the National League East, because they need every bit of breathing room they can get. On Thursday, Washington suffered insult and injury, as its beleaguered bullpen blew yet another lead in a 5–4 loss to the Cubs—one that shortstop Trea Turner was forced to leave with what turned out to be a broken right wrist that will sideline him indefinitely. Yet while the loss of Turner seems to be the bigger problem on the surface, the bullpen’s latest meltdown is far more vexing.
Turner’s injury was the first bit of bad luck on the day. Batting with two on and one out in the seventh, the 24-year-old shortstop took a Pedro Strop fastball off the hands. Though he was able to stay in the game, he came out in the ninth inning for Stephen Drew in a double switch; his injury turned up in a postgame X-ray. The team hasn’t announced any timetable for his return, but an absence of at least six-to-eight weeks seems likely.
The injury is poorly timed for Turner, who had missed a big chunk of the early part of the season with a hamstring injury and struggled to regain his form upon his return but had found his stroke in June, hitting .298/.370/.404 on the month entering Thursday’s action. More importantly, he remained a dynamic presence on the bases, stealing 33 bags in 37 tries—including four on Tuesday night against Chicago in a game that literally cost catcher Miguel Montero his job.
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