Lots of impressive swings tonight…some from All Star Josh Hamilton…Hamilton hit a record 28 homers during the first round of tonight’s Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium.

…Some from Ryan Zimmerman, making his first rehab start for the Potomac Nationals in Salem, VA.  Ryan, the DH, went 2 for 5 with 2 doubles and a run.  Potomac lost 8-6.  Detwiler started, but received a no decision.  We’re thrilled that Ryan’s on his way back.

News came this morning that the cause for Wily Mo Pena’s shoulder pain will require surgery.  He has a small tear and impingement in his left rotator cuff, as well as, fraying of the labrum in his left shoulder.  Surgery will take place within the next week or so. 

Meanwhile, Nats Farm Authority says that outfielder Alex Escobar was released from Columbus. 

Elijah Dukes and Lastings Milledge are both on the disabled list as well.  Austin Kearns just recently returned to action after over a month on the DL.

A busy weekend of games prevented a full discussion here about the alleged Jim Bowden-Jose Rijo investigation by the FBI.  Nats Farm Authority and Fire Jim Bowden were actively updating and synthesizing reports, while the Post, the Times, MLB.com, The New York Times, the Associated Press and ESPN each had their own take on the situation.  In summary, ESPN says Bowden and Rijo are suspects.  Bowden has and Rijo will meet with FBI investigators but both claim not to be suspected of wrongdoing.  Sports Illustrated revealed that the investigation focuses on the 1.4 million dollar bonus given to Esmailyn “Smiley” Gonzalez in 2006.  Gonzales, heralded as a future star for the organization, is hitting .394 in 17 games this season with the Gulf Coast team.  At the time of the signing, Gonzales made it clear that he was signing with the team because of his special relationship with Jose Rijo, according to Bill Ladson, writing in 2006.  Kasten and Bowden said:

“…there were opposing teams who tried to sabotage them from signing Gonzalez. They would not name the organizations in question, but Kasten said the Nationals are considering taking the matter to the league office. “I don’t know how I’m going to react,” Kasten said. “I wanted [our front office] to keep their eyes on the ball and get the deal done [with Gonzalez].”

We’ll all continue to watch this unfold together.

Also frustrating this weekend were comments made by Mark Lerner about his take on building a successful team. Harper at Oleanders and Morning Glories echoes our sentiments, especially with regard to the Johan Santana criticism.  Since when did wins and losses for a pitcher mean much of anything?  Santana’s doing his job and doing it well.  It’s especially disconcerting that he chose that example because we’ve got a decent rotation that has battled throught the first half remarkably well without a lot of wins or run support to show for it. 

In other news, Bowden was awarded Sports Illustrated’s First Half Worst GM in the National League Award for constructing a team that has “one, maybe two, legit starting position players.”

Ryan Zimmerman begins a rehab assignment tonight with the Potomac Nationals.  He’ll play two games in Salem, VA with the P-Nats before joining the Columbus Clippers.

Austin Kearns will start his rehab assignment on Thursday night, joining the Hagerstown Suns for a 7:05 home game against Delmarva.  It marks the first time the Suns will host a major league rehab assignment since becoming part of the Nationals organization.

It’s Thirsty Thursday and Ladies Night as well as a Summer Beach Party Night for the Suns. In addition to deals on Corona, all domestic 12 oz drafts will cost just $1.25.  Also, all ladies in attendance will have the chance to win great prizes from local businesses.

We missed much of the beginning of the game last night.  Sometimes, it’s better that way.  The Angels batted around in the first, sending 10 men to the plate and securing a 6 run lead.  When they scored 2 more runs in the third, Manny handed the game over to the bullpen.  The combination of Shell, Colome, Hanrahan and Manning put up 6 zeroes with 5 strike outs, 3 hits and only 1 walk.  But the damage was already done.

Errors proved costly in the game and yielded 2 unearned runs to the Angels.  Hill balked and Lo Duca, Young and Harris all had a hard time making routine plays.  Lo Duca’s left field experiment was cut short by a bout of light-headedness.  He left in the second and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons.  His replacement, Wily Mo Pena, surprised everyone by going deep in his first at bat to give the Nats their first run.  It was only his second home run of the season.  An inning later Elijah Dukes would collect his third, a homer to left field.  The only other run came in the 5th when pinch hitter Kory Casto singled to score Ronnie Belliard.

As if it couldn’t get any worse, there’s more injury news.  Nick Johnson underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic and will likely be out for the season.  That’s a big loss and very disheartening because he worked so hard to get healthy for this season.  Shawn Hill, who has been experiencing pain all season, will also head to the Mayo Clinic for another evaluation.  Hill will likely end up on the disabled list and probably should have been put on it awhile ago.  We admire his desire to battle but wonder if the Patterson release motivated Hill to fight through the pain more than he should have.  When he’s sharp and effective, he’s a treat to watch.  We wish him a speedy recovery, but you know how those things go.

Some other news:

Zimmerman has a new blog post up, but it’s rather dull.  The team announced a partnership with the Spanish Beisbol Network.  Games will debut on WZHF 1390AM on Friday, June 27.  Select games will be broadcast on WMET 1160AM and XM Radio Channel 174, MLB en Español.  The team also announced plans to build a Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.  From the release:

In partnership with the District Government, The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation has committed to building a Youth Baseball Academy that will engage inner city youth in the sport of baseball, along with providing after-school educational programs.  Slated as a 12,000 square foot facility with three fields on 10 acres, the Academy will be a year-round youth development program committed to equipping youth with the life skills necessary to succeed in life and to become responsible, productive citizens in their community.

Chico Harlan’s chatting at 2 pm, Mark Zuckerman’s chatting at 1 pm and Jim Bowden’s chat yesterday was utterly useless.

Tim Redding (6-3, 4.12 ERA) takes on Ervin Santana (9-3, 3.17) tonight.

No need to re-cap Pittsburgh.  Ryan Doumit owns the Nats.  The catcher went 9-for-11 with four home runs, two doubles and seven RBIs throughout the series.  The rest of a series is a miserable blur.  The Nats have dropped 10 of the last 12.  Our record is now 26-42, 29th in baseball.  But guess who has the worst record? 

That’s right, the team we play next.  The worst of the AL meets the worst of the NL in inter-league play this weekend.  The 24-42 Mariners have been really dissapointing.  Much like the Washington team on the East coast, the Mariners have had quality pitching and little to no offense.  So they did the only thing that makes sense…they fired their hitting coach this week.  Doing something that makes sense.  Imagine that.

Hill has been looking sharp.  If you’re superstituous, don’t look at his road ERA.  That can’t be a good sign.  The Mariners are bringing R.A. Dickey (2.67) out of the bullpen to take a turn for Miguel Batista tonight.

Lots of Injury Updates:

Lo Duca will be back this weekend, but the catcher situation hasn’t really been addressed.  We’re hoping Flores has done enough to prove that he should stay.  With a thin bench they should be able to keep Nieves around too.  It looks like Odalis Perez is headed to the Disabled List with tendinitis.  Clippard will likely get the call to face Erik Bedard, lucky him.  Zimmerman’s prognosis is now 4-6 weeks, but there’s really no need to rush him back.  Chico’s left elbow was evaluated by Dr. James Andrews.  He will be on a rest and rehab program for 6 weeks.  Aaron Boone suffered a neck spasm during the game yesterday.  He’s expected to be back in a few days.

If the losses are getting too miserable for you, consider heading down to Woodbridge tonight to watch the Potomac Nationals.  It’s $1 Monday, so tickets and hot dogs are each $1.  Ross Detwiler (4-3, 5.76) gets the start for the 7:05 game.  Both Ronnie Belliard and Paul Lo Duca are currently rehabbing at Potomac and the P-Nats are one win away from clinching the first half title in the Carolina League Northern Division.

It’s official.  Zimmerman will go on the 15 DL with Kory Casto getting the call-up from Columbus.  This is tough…not just to see the young star out, but also because the injury prognosis keeps getting worse. 

On that note, why exactly did it take Paul Lo Duca’s stint in the booth to reveal the injury?  Why wasn’t an MRI done immediately when he first noticed the pain?  Who’s responsible for dragging this out for so long and wasting his time that could have been spent getting second opinions and recovering?  Probably noone.  Afterall, noone’s at fault for the inept offense, which is about to get even uglier.

We sure hope that Zimmerman’s shoulder requires no surgery, heals fast and improves enough to get him back on the field as soon as possible.

But we’re Nats fans.  We know better, don’t we.

So, now there are 8 guys on the DL including 5 of the 9 starters from the Opening Night line-up and the team’s closer.

Here’s the team’s official update on Ryan Zimmerman’s MRI:

Ryan Zimmerman underwent a gadolinium enhanced MRI of his injured left, non-throwing shoulder today and was then evaluated by Dr. Benjamin Shaffer, team orthopedist.  The MRI exam revealed a small labral tear.  Dr. Shaffer advocated rest and anti-inflammatory medications.  The Nationals are consulting with the following renowned orthopedic physicians for additional evaluations:  Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham (AL), Dr. Timothy Kremchek of Cincinnati (OH) and Dr. Robert Cofield of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (MN).

Words you never want to hear in the same sentence?  James Andrews.  Ryan Zimmerman.  A trip to Alabama could be even worse than this diagnosis by the team orthopedist.  Even if he just needs a few more days of rest, Zimmerman will almost have to go onto the Disabled List any day now.  

The team also provided an update on Nick Johnson:

Nick Johnson’s wrist was evaluated today by Dr. Benjamin Shaffer, two weeks after his injury occurred. Because of persisting tenderness of the Extensor Carpi Ulnaris tendon sheath in his right wrist, the wrist was re-casted for an additional two weeks.  He will be re-evaluated on June 16, at which time rehabilitation options will be determined. 

This one’s going to take longer than expected too. 

There are currently 7 Nats on the Disabled List including Paul Lo Duca, Johnny Estrada, Chad Cordero, Ryan Wagner, Austin Kearns, Nick Johnson and Ronnie Belliard.

Nats Farm Authority reports that outfielder/prospect Justin Maxwell went on the Disabled List today.  He was playing with Class AA Harrisburg.  Maxwell was hitting .233 with 35 runs scored, 28 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.  In his call-up last September, Justin hit .269 with 2 home runs in just 15 games with the Nationals. 

We speculated that with outfield troubles and an injured Austin Kearns, Maxwell might be back in Washington shortly.  Unfortunately, that definately won’t happen anytime soon.