Heisey will try to rehab without surgery; Nats acquire Raburn

The prognosis for Chris Heisey may not be nearly as dire as initially feared.

Though an MRI confirmed Heisey ruptured his right biceps tendon, doctors have told the Nationals outfielder he can attempt to rehab the injury without surgery and thus return to play in a relatively short time frame.

Heisey said he had been playing through shoulder pain for much of the season and felt worse after a swing during Tuesday night's game. When he took batting practice Wednesday afternoon, he felt a sharp pain and couldn't continue.

The Nationals immediately placed him on the 10-day disabled list and announced the injury as a ruptured biceps. But as ominous as that sounded, it is possible to play through the ailment, depending on how much tolerance for pain Heisey has.

He insisted Wednesday night this would not be a season-ending injury, and after the MRI taken Thursday confirmed the diagnosis, he was told he could resume some light baseball activities.

And so it was that Heisey this afternoon was on the field for batting practice with his Nationals teammates, shagging fly balls and making light throws back to the infield. He'll attempt to ramp things up from there and see whether he can get back to game action.

Heisey, 32, was struggling at the plate to begin the season. He's batting .128 (6-for-47) with a .393 OPS overall and is 0-for-14 as a pinch-hitter after thriving in the role last year.

The Nationals do still have a shortage of backup outfielders, especially right-handed hitters in case Heisey can't make a full recovery. With that in mind, they acquired veteran Ryan Raburn from the White Sox earlier today.

The deal for the 36-year-old was for a player to be named or cash considerations, according to a source familiar with the details.

Raburn has 922 games of big league experience, hitting .253 with a .753 OPS for the Tigers, Indians and Rockies. He was playing for the White Sox's Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte, where he was hitting .277 with three homers, 13 RBIs and an .853 OPS in 27 games.

Raburn will report to Syracuse for now, with the Nationals seeing him as a candidate for promotion at some point.