Yunel Escobar's X-rays on left hand/wrist negative, but he'll need more tests

Following the Nationals' 4-3 win over the Mets, manager Matt Williams confirmed that third baseman Yunel Escobar has an injured left hand and wrist. He has been dealing with an injury to that area from earlier in the season.

Escobar went down to the ground after taking a healthy swing in his first at-bat in the second inning on a pitch from Mets' right-hander Noah Syndergaard. He laid on top of home plate for almost a minute, and after recovering, stepped back into the box with a 1-2 count. The next pitch, he lined foul down the left field line and promptly left the field of play and the game. He was replaced by Dan Uggla.

"We had an X-ray when he came out," Williams reported. "That X-ray is negative. We're going to send him for further tests. That's all we know at this point."

Williams said they wont have any more information on the severity of the injury until Escobar visits a hand specialist.

The manager also said they are not thinking about bringing Anthony Rendon (quad) back quicker than usual because of this latest injury to Escobar.

"I hope you'll pardon me," Williams said. "I don't even want to think about that. We'll go to that later."

Other options would be to put Uggla in the everyday lineup or give Emmanuel Burriss, a switch-hitter, more playing time. Wilmer Difo also could be called back up if Escobar has to go on the disabled list.

But losing Escobar for any amount of time will hurt the team's progress on offense and defense.

Escobar's consistency has been a major part of the Nationals' offense, especially coming from the top of the order. He has played third base almost exclusively the entire season, a spot he didn't have much experience at coming in, despite several years in the big leagues.

Williams, a former third baseman himself, has seen Escobar make progress at that spot.

"Just being familiar (with the position)," Williams said before Wednesday's game. "He takes ground balls every single day, even the days we don't hit on the field. He takes pride in it. He wants to be good at it. I think he's made great strides. It's not easy moving positions, especially to a position you haven't played very much. That side of the diamond certainly is more familiar than the other for him, so he's making good adjustments and making strides."

"I think he's getting more and more accustomed to (playing third base), which is a good sign."

Escobar has also hit from the cleanup spot lately in the banged up Nationals' batting order because of his ability to make contact. Does Escobar change his approach batting cleanup?

"He doesn't," Williams said during pregame. "There are guys that do, but he doesn't. He's up there to get a good pitch to hit and hit it. Regardless of where he's at, regardless of where the situation is. He understands situational baseball because he's hit two (spot). When a guy's at second base, he's looking to get him over regardless of where he's hitting in the lineup.

"Generally your four hitter is your slugger. Given our state at this point, we really don't have that guy. Clint's (Robinson) hit there some, but Yunel provides (Bryce Harper) some protection potentially. If there are guys on base, as an example, if a guy's on second base and they don't want to pitch to Bryce for some reason, then Yunel is there and he has the ability to drive the run in. We saw that Game 1. That's why he's there."

And now the Nationals may have to decide what to do without him and hope Rendon can come back soon. But Williams appears to not want to hurry Rendon back just because of the possibility of a being without Escobar for a couple of weeks.