Ryan Zimmerman scratched with right shoulder inflammation

By Apr 21, 2012, 3:10 PM EDT
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Ryan Zimmerman was expected to get the day off tomorrow, so it was a bit of a surprise to see Mark DeRosa run out to third base this afternoon against the Marlins. According to Mark Zuckerman of CSNWashington.com, Zimmerman was a late-minute scratch due to mild right shoulder inflammation.

The team announced that Zimmerman has “no structural damage in the least,” though no MRI was performed. He is listed as day-to-day right now.

Zimmerman, 27, is hitting .224/.324/.345 with one home run, seven RBI and a .668 OPS through 68 plate appearances this season. He signed a six-year, $100 million extension in late February which will keep him with the Nationals through at least 2019.

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN on opening day

Associated PressMar 23, 2023, 12:09 AM EDT
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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.