Nationals place Juan Soto on the injured list with a strained left shoulder
The soonest Soto could return is April 30, the first day of a home series against the Miami Marlins. He joins starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg (right shoulder inflammation) and relievers Will Harris (right hand inflammation), Wander Suero (left oblique strain) and Luis Avilán (torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow) on the IL.
And it doesn’t end there. Jon Lester, the expected fourth starter, still has not made his Nationals debut; he remains on the coronavirus-related IL but is throwing at the alternate site. Reliever Javy Guerra should miss at least another month with a flexor strain in his right elbow. And Martinez revealed Tuesday that Seth Romero, another depth pitcher, has a rib injury and will be sidelined for a while.
Soto, though, leaves a superstar-size hole in the Nationals’ order. In his first 14 games, he had two doubles, two homers, 10 walks and an on-base-plus-slugging percentage of .870. He went to the IL after Martinez’s daily news conference with reporters, meaning any additional information about the injury would come after Tuesday’s game.
In Soto’s absence, the Nationals hit shortstop Trea Turner third and put Stevenson in the leadoff spot. Second baseman Josh Harrison slid in between them, taking Soto’s usual spot. The lineup behind Turner was first baseman Josh Bell, left fielder Kyle Schwarber, third baseman Starlin Castro, catcher Yan Gomes, center fielder Victor Robles and starter Patrick Corbin. The Nationals entered the day ranked ninth in the major leagues in OPS and 10th in on-base percentage.
This is the third time in Soto’s career that he has landed on the IL. The first was with back spasms in May 2019. The second was in July 2020, when he missed Opening Day after a positive coronavirus test that he believed was a false result. And now, at a minimum, he will be sidelined for two games against the Cardinals, a three-game series with the New York Mets at Citi Field, then a two-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.
It’s likely that Stevenson will get most of the starts in right, though Hernandez could get some chances, too. But the Nationals will really need other players — namely Turner, Bell and Schwarber — to fill the offensive void.
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