Washington Nationals’ Chad Tracy will play rehab games soon and will return after All-Star Break-MLB
Positive news about Chad Tracy's immediate return following the All-Star break emerges as he rehabilitates fully from a torn muscle in the right side of his groin.
After going through a surgery to fix it, he is ready to make the line-up as a designated hitter or as a pinch hitter for the club.
Before being given the nod, the Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson aims to send him for rehab games, which may start as soon as the next week or may be even earlier.
A line-up without Jayson Werth seriously needs a slugger who can ensure late innings homers and result in accumulation of a reasonable number of runs.
Therefore, Tracy will fit in the equation perfectly. His ability to show power on the plate by slamming massive hits is something the Nationals can benefit from immensely.
One can go back to his outings during the time before he was slashed from the season due to the injury. As a hitter who assumes the plate halfway through the innings, he had contributed valuable RBIs and had struck hits at a time when they were needed the
most.
Based on this, the Nationals will be looking for a similar kind of performance from him, on his return.
Johnson is extremely confident that Tracy will prove as effective as he was before suffering from injury. Terming his significance in the line-up equivalent to the players like Michael Morse and Wilson Ramos, he acknowledges Tracy’s credentials for being
a quality slugger.
“He won a bunch of games for us with his bat prior to leaving. His injury was just as severe a loss to the team as a Michael Morse or a Jayson Werth or a [Wilson] Ramos. Because he really had a big role on this ballclub, late-inning pinch hitter, trying
to win a tie game against their best pitcher. He was winning those battles. As far as my thinking, he was as big or bigger than any of the regulars we lost because he was always going to be there in crunch time,” Johnson said.
Tracy will have a point to prove after coming back. By showing composure on plate and drawing appropriate at-bats, he can help the Nationals’ offence in many ways.
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