Left side tightness forces Rendon out of rehab game, Span sits

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Infielder Anthony Rendon was again a late scratch in his minor league rehab assignment for Double-A Harrisburg tonight. He continues to experience tightness in his left side and had trouble getting loose. Rendon was due to play seven innings at second base in Harrisburg's game at Bowie.

Nationals manager Matt Williams had just finished laying out the plan for Rendon during his pregame session with reporters in the third base dugout before the news came in. After playing seven tonight, Rendon was due for a day off tomorrow that would include infield and hitting work. He was then scheduled to travel to New Britain, Conn., with Harrisburg to play seven innings on Monday and nine innings on Tuesday. After that, Williams indicated that Rendon could be ready to join the Nationals.

"It depends on how it all goes barring any kind of issues or any of that," Williams said when asked when Rendon might be activated off the disabled list. "At some point during the next homestand, potentially, if all goes well."

Rendon hasn't played with the Nationals since March 9 when he sprained his left MCL while making a diving stop in his third Grapefruit League game. He began his rehab stint last Friday, playing five innings at third base and followed with seven innings at second base on Saturday. Then the issue with his left side appeared, causing him to miss six days before returning to the field last night.

"He allows our team to do a lot of things so we're anxious to get him back," Williams said. "But like Denard (Span), we want it to be for the long haul, too. We have to be mindful of that going forward. He's had a little bit of a setback, but we're gonna make sure that he's good to go when he's good to go.

Span is out of the lineup for the second straight day as he continues to deal with abdominal soreness. He had a pair of similar surgeries in the offseason, one for a hernia and the other on his left core muscle. The latter forced him to miss the first two weeks of the regular season. Since being activated on April 19, Span has hit .302 (13-for-43) with two homers, four doubles and seven RBIs while playing his normal stellar defense in center field.

"He's fine," Williams said. "It's just still really early in the process for him. You want him to do all of those things he's been doing out there, but it pays the price for it, too, this early. You get out there and you want to him to be out there playing center field, but then he's got to run to the gap a few times and he's on the base paths and he's getting five hits. It takes a toll. So one more day and he'll be good."