Nationals Ryan Mattheus Likely To Miss 4-6 Weeks After Punching Locker

Washington Nationals’ relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus is expected to miss 4-6 weeks due to a broken right hand. Most injuries come on the field, but Mattheus broke his hand while punching a locker Sunday night.

The 29-year-old gave up five runs in one inning against the San Diego Padres that day and he obviously wasn’t too happy about it. The terrible inning of relief got the best of him as he took out his anger on a locker after the game.

According to the Washington Post, Mattheus didn’t immediately tell the Nationals about his “locker punch,” though he eventually informed the team which led to an exam of his pitching hand. An X-ray revealed soon after that his hand was fractured, which eventually led to the disabled list.

Punching a locker will easily get out the steam, but it’s a horrible way to deal with a bad outing, especially for a pitcher. The incident will cost Ryan Mattheus up to six weeks on the DL, and the right-hander will be sure to stay away from self-inflicting injuries from here on out.

In 14 appearances this season, Mattheus has a 4.96 ERA in 16.1 innings pitched. He has one blown save and three holds to go along with 12 strikeouts in the early season.

The timing isn’t the best for the Nationals, as they have failed to win a series in over two weeks. They’re coming off a series with the San Francisco Giants where they lost two-of-three games, dropping them 4.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

The only good news to come of the entire ordeal is that Mattheus’ broken hand won’t require surgery, which would’ve kept him off the field for much longer than 4-6 weeks.

The Nationals’ still have high hopes for Mattheus, especially after his breakout season coming out of the bullpen in 2012. Mattheus appeared in 66 games and finished with 18 holds while sporting a respectable 2.85 ERA.

Do you believe Ryan Mattheus will recover in enough time to make an impact with the Nationals in 2013?

[Image via Cathy T]