Williams on Harper's injury and what's next

The decision to place outfielder Bryce Harper on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left thumb was two-fold, said Nationals manager Matt Williams: It gives the team time to get a full evaluation of what's wrong with the digit, and allows Harper some additional time to let the swelling in the thumb dissipate.

Williams said there's some concern in the organization because Harper has previously injured the thumb. So he's going to Cleveland on Monday to get a second opinion from Dr. Thomas Graham of the Cleveland Clinic.

"He does have some history," Williams said during a pregame meeting with reporters before Sunday's game against the Padres. "He hurt it in high school. The question is how new is it and how old (an) injury is. You've got guys who play with it all the time. He's going to go get a second opinion."

The diagnosis of a sprain means the potential for ligament damage, Williams said.

"There's no break, there's no fracture," Williams said. "The MRI shows sprain. That means many things, so he's going to go get to checked again and see where it's at. The coming days will tell us where we're at on it."

It's possible Harper could play through some discomfort because the injury affects his glove hand, not his throwing hand. How the thumb will stand up to the rigors of swinging a bat is not known.

"If it's an ongoing thing this year, it's his glove hand and not his throwing hand," Williams said. "He took some swings the other night after he did it and felt OK. We haven't done anything since, cause it's been swollen. The prognosis, we just don't know yet because we're in the early stages. "

Williams said the injury was just a case of "bad luck" for a player who hurt himself playing hard. Harper jammed his thumb sliding into third base headfirst on a triple Friday night.

"I think it's bad luck," the manager said. "It happens all the time, guys slide headfirst all the time. It just happens that he got his thumb in an awkward position. You can't question that, you can't question the way the kid plays the game. He plays the game hard."