Williams on Nats' injuries: "I don't know if I can remember a team that's been hit this hard"

The Nationals will spend this much needed off-day on the mend before making the short drive up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway tomorrow afternoon for an interleague series with the Orioles. Both teams enter the weekend reeling.

On July 1, Baltimore jumped into their first lead in the American League East since the season's opening week. Since then, the Orioles have dropped six of seven, scoring only 10 runs combined in the losses. The Twins completed a three-game sweep over Baltimore yesterday in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, the Nationals may have to give an assist to Mother Nature for helping them avoid being swept by the Reds. The absence of Denard Span (back spasms) and Yunel Escobar (left hamstring tightness) coupled with stints on the disabled list for Ryan Zimmerman (planta fasciitis), Jayson Werth (fractured left wrist) and Anthony Rendon (left quad strain) left Williams with Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond as the only healthy everyday players on his lineup card last night.

"I don't know if I can remember a team that's been hit this hard," Williams said. "But we do have light coming. Guys are getting healthy. We do have the All-Star break coming, which will provide a little bit of a respite in that regard. And we'll go from there. We still have to play games. We have (three) left before the break, so we have to do everything we can to win those."

The Nationals have now seen their players make 17 different trips to the DL this season. Last night, Williams was questioned about whether there is organizational concern regarding the current system for treating injured players.

"No, I don't think so," Williams said. "We've had injuries over the last two years. Oftentimes they are a product of the game, whether it's Jayson getting hit or Zim breaking a thumb or Bryce doing his thumb at third base, Wilson with a hamate. Those things you cannot control. The program hasn't changed. So I don't see systemic issues there. What I do see is a little run of bad luck in that regard. And at the same time, a team that has fought through it and will continue to. So that's my view of it. If guys have injuries, you deal with it and you go from there. But I don't see any systemic problem with the way things are structured. I think they all take very good care of themselves in every way. Their nutrition is great, their hydration is great. I think it's just a product of a little bit of bad luck here and there."

Williams won't have the services of Span this weekend in Baltimore either. The 31-year-old center fielder is due to see a back specialist in Dallas today to hopefully locate the root of the discomfort that has caused him to miss all or part of eight games since first experiencing the pain on June 7.

When's he has been able to play, Span has continued performing at a high level. Over 21 games since the initial back spasms, Span is hitting .329 (26-for-79) with five RBIs and 14 runs scored.

"He gets frustrated because on any given day, he's great," Williams said. "He had to work through the initial two surgeries, no spring training to speak of and get him back to playing. But once he's back to playing, he's been great the majority of the time. But then on those days when he feels it again, he's essentially immobilized because it just locks up on him. And then we've been trying to give him some days off, even though he was feeling OK. That hasn't quite done the trick. So we'll get another answer and see where we can go from there."

Williams indicated that Escobar's hamstring was improving and that the 32-year-old third baseman was available to come off the bench last night if the Nats and Reds had played. Span and Escobar aren't just two of Williams' best hitters, they are two of the top 10 in the National League. Despite Escobar's .315 batting average (sixth-best in the NL) and Span's .304 batting average (ninth-best, NL), both players were passed over for All-Star Game selections.

Update: The Nationals have reinstated right-hander David Carpenter from the paternity list and optioned righty Taylor Hill to Triple-A Syracuse. Carpenter, who was acquired on June 11 in a trade with the Yankees, has allowed one run over eight appearances with the Nationals.