Howie Kendrick of the Washington Nationals collided with the wall in Saturday’s doubleheader with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kendrick had to be carted off the field and he was diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Kendrick will go for surgery on Monday to have the tendon repaired.
Ruptured Achilles’ tendon for Kendrick. Surgery on Monday.
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 20, 2018
Kendrick knows his season is over. Said he thinks positively about every situation, and is going to stay positive here, too. Said moping won’t help anything. Going to stick around and help his teammates any way he can.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) May 20, 2018
The Nationals dropped both games of the doubleheader to the injury-stricken Dodgers. Losing Kendrick just added to the day’s losses, Kendrick has been off to a hot start in the 2018 campaign. He has played in 40 games for the Nationals in 2018 and is batting .303 with a slugging percentage of .474 while driving in 12 RBI’s.
The Nationals are also struggling with injuries in their outfield as Victor Robles, Adam Eaton, and Brian Goodwin are all currently ailing injuries. The replacement for Howie Kendrick appears to be Juan Soto.
Talk about a fast riser: Nats have officially called up 19-year-old Juan Soto from Double-A.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) May 20, 2018
With Kendrick ailing his Achilles, 19-year old Soto will need to step up and be productive for the Nationals. Soto is making a big jump from Low-A ball to the MLB in the same year, but with the injury to Kendrick and the other injuries the Nationals are dealing with, Soto needs to be called up and needs to make an impact as a young stud.
