Eaton has bone contusion in left ankle, Robles hyperextended elbow

Nationals manager Davey Martinez announced following the club's 4-1 series-clinching win over the Braves that outfielder Adam Eaton has a deep bone bruise on his left ankle.

Eaton had an MRI done on the ankle. The results have not yet been made available.

"Eaton has a bone contusion in his ankle," Martinez said. "He came in today and said he just felt bad so we scratched him. He got an MRI. We are waiting to hear back what's going to happen. But he has a bad bone contusion in his ankle."

Martinez confirmed that Eaton hurt his ankle last week sliding into home late in the third inning April 5. He played April 7 and then went 0-for-6 on April 8.

"He hurt it. Next day he said he felt good," Martinez said of Eaton's timeline with the ankle. "And then he said it started bothering him. We want to be very, very cautious with him right now."

Eaton acted like a stint on the disabled list was inevitable. He knows how long his physical rehab was for the knee and ankle after last season's devastating injury April 28.

"You know, bone bruises, I guess, I don't know," Eaton said. "I guess they take a little longer. I would expect that but I'm not 100 percent sure what their decision will be. I'm not sure."

Eaton said he can run with the ankle. Last week he said if it was a playoff game he would continue playing. But it is only game No. 11, so it is better to get this issue better now.

"I think our mindset's a week of kind of relaxing and going from there, speeding everything up," Eaton explained. "The nice thing about it is it only hurts when I walk and jog. And lifting is fine. Sprinting is fine. Throwing is fine. Hitting is fine. So I think once we get the walking and jogging and that healed we should be able to get off and running relatively quickly, no pun intended with rehab and getting back out there.

Bottom line: "Still feel pretty good. My knee feels really good. My ankle's been feeling better but they just wanted to maybe get an MRI to see what it looks like. A little bone bruise. We can either keep playing or mess around with it for the whole year or we can get it right. And wash it away and be good."

Eaton talked last week in Atlanta about how his rehab has continued on into the season. This might be an extension of this again.

"We're really going to concentrate on strength and the process of getting it better," Eaton said. "And get my quad correct and everything. And work on things we kind of ran out of time in spring training so this might be a little blessing in disguise so that's kind of how we're looking at it going forward.

With Eaton hurting, the obvious call up would be top prospect outfielder Victor Robles, but the talented young phenom injured his elbow in Monday's Chiefs game at Rochester.

"He has a hyperextension of his left elbow," Martinez said. "He's really, really swollen. So, they are going to reevaluate him on Monday when the swelling goes down.

"When you see the video it looks like, I thought he broke his elbow. Until the swelling goes down, they really can't tell I don't think what is really going on. But it is a hyperextension. If you want to say that's good news, he'll be missed for sure, but hopefully it is good news."

Robles will stay in D.C. until Monday to be evaluated by team doctors.

The Nats have a couple of different ways they can go when adding an outfielder to replace Eaton.

It is interesting to note the only healthy outfielder that didn't play for Syracuse Tuesday night with Moises Sierra.

The right-handed hitter has had a base hit in each of the four games he has played for the Chiefs, batting .333 (4-for-12). The 29-year-old played for the Blue Jays and White Sox from 2012 and 2014 and displayed some good things with the Nats in spring training. He is not on the 40-man roster.

Meanwhile, lefty hitter Andrew Stevenson is on the 40-man and played in 37 games and hit .158 with the Nats last season, and has struggled to a 2-for-19 (.105) start for the Chiefs this year.

Also Lefty hitter Alejandro de Aza had the game winning hit for the Chiefs Tuesday night and has a good amount of major league experience. He played in 28 games for the Nats last season, but is not on the 40-man roster yet either.

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Matt Wieters went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a strikeout in the first game of his rehab assignment. He was replaced by Tres Barrera in the top of the eighth inning. It is likely Wieters will continue his rehab with the P-Nats as a designated hitter in the next game.