CHICAGO – Though he’s out of the lineup this afternoon, Jacob Young sounded reasonably sure his left shoulder injury won’t prevent him from returning to play for the Nationals soon.
Young, who jammed the shoulder sliding into second base on a stolen base attempt during Thursday night’s 7-6 loss to the Cubs, said he’s still sore, but “it’s nothing crazy.”
“Just diving in the outfield, diving into bases throughout travel ball all the way up to pro ball, stuff like that happens where your shoulder gets put into maybe an uncomfortable position,” he said. “It’s not your throwing shoulder, so it doesn’t affect that at all. You kind of know what it’s going to be like in the morning. It’s going to be sore, maybe not feel great. Then you just give it some time, let the doctors do what they do and get it back to feeling good.”
The Nationals are still waiting for MRI results on Young’s shoulder, so manager Davey Martinez isn’t making any proclamations yet about his status for the rest of this weekend series or next week’s final six games of the season.
For now, Young is sitting this afternoon’s game, with Dylan Crews taking over in center field and Joey Gallo starting in right field.
“I’m not going to make any assumptions until we get the MRI back,” Martinez said. “But he says he feels a lot better today than he did yesterday, which is a good sign.”
Martinez did mention Thursday night how head-first slides often leave players susceptible to hand, shoulder and head injuries and suggested the club may have to start pushing guys to slide feet-first into bases.
“I really don’t like (head-first slides), because they’re reaching back to grab the bag. There’s a lot of different things that can happen,” the manager said. “I think next year we’re really going to practice sliding feet-first. I know it’s tough. It’s a habit. But it’s a habit we’ve got to try to break.”
Young, for his part, acknowledged the risks but emphasized the benefits of head-first slides and stressed the importance of maintaining good physical shape to help prepare the body for the rigors of the game.
“It’s tough,” he said. “I think head-first, you can manipulate yourself better to try to dodge a tag or something like that. But I think you’ve also seen plenty of guys get hurt sliding feet-first, too. It’s a tough play. There’s a lot of movement going on. The (fielder) is coming into you, you’re coming into him. There’s a fine line there, but you just want to make sure your body’s in the best position to be OK after it.”
* Needing to clear a roster spot for Trevor Williams in advance of today’s game, the Nationals optioned reliever Zach Brzykcy to Triple-A Rochester and transferred Joan Adon to the 60-day injured list.
Brzykcy was sent down after five big league appearances this month, during which he allowed nine runs on nine hits and three walks. The 25-year-old right-hander was disappointed with the results, but Martinez stressed to him the significance of his arrival in the majors after going undrafted out of Virginia Tech and missing all of 2023 following Tommy John surgery.
“It was important to get him up here and get him some experience,” the manager said. “I think he can be a real big factor for us moving forward in the future. He’s got good stuff. I know his velo is going to tick up again, just like all those guys with Tommy John. We’re looking forward to getting him back.”
Adon went on the 15-day IL on Aug. 28 with a strained right biceps muscle. The right-hander wasn’t going to make it back before season’s end, so he was transferred to the 60-day IL, which opened up a 40-man roster spot for Williams before he starts today’s game.