Williams on Storen's toe, Janssen's MRI and Rendon's second opinion

JUPITER, Fla. - The Nationals' injury issues continued in the sixth inning of today's 6-2 loss to the Cardinals. Right-hander Drew Storen came on to pitch the sixth inning in what was just his third Grapefruit League appearance. After Storen faced only four batters, the Nats' trainer came to the mound to check on the pitcher.

The Nats closer immediately left the field and headed straight to the clubhouse with what manager Matt Williams is calling an aggravation of a blister on Storen's right big toe.

"No need to push it at this point," Williams said. "His pitch count was up there anyway, so we decided to go get him. We'll see how he is tomorrow. Just a regular spring training blister. You start sweating. It gets hot. You start having friction down there and he developed a blister and then the next pitch it ripped."

Right-hander Casey Janssen's MRI revealed that he has rotator cuff tendinitis in his throwing shoulder.

"Timetable on tendinitis, you don't know," Williams said. "He's feeling good and we know what it is and we can take the appropriate steps to deal with it. We'll see where he's at. We've gotta make sure we give him some time to let the medicine take its course and then ramp him back up. Timetable, not sure, but he'll be throwing soon."

Janssen has dealt with lingering shoulder soreness since surgery on his right AC joint in November 2013.

"Casey is a question mark. I think at this point, we can say he's a question mark for opening day," Williams said. "That doesn't mean that he won't be ready, but the fact that he's been not throwing for a few days tells us with this amount of time left that he would be a question mark."

Meanwhile, third baseman Anthony Rendon went to renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews today for a second opinion on his sprained left MCL.

"We're making sure that we cover all bases in that regard," Williams said. "Right now, we're looking at what Dr. Andrews sees and take the appropriate steps necessary."

Williams spoke shortly after the game and had not received the reports back from Rendon's tests.

Williams said he doesn't feel unlucky with all of the injuries his team has dealt with and refuses to let emotions come into play with the season on the doorstep.

"We're a week from opening day, we've gotta play," Williams said. "If we're taking a little different team with us for opening day than we had anticipated, then that's what it is. There's no choice in the matter but to play and to win. So that's our objective."

There was some good news from the Nats' infirmary list after the game. Outfielder Jayson Werth took his first at-bats of the spring in a minor league game today. He had been playing only in the field during his previous appearances in minor league games.