Chad Cordero's fastball lacked zip from the moment this season began. On Monday, the Nationals finally found out why: Cordero has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury that will sideline him for at least the remainder of the season.
The Washington closer appeared in only six games in April, with a fastball that was clocked as low as 76 mph. Two MRIs revealed no structural damage, but Cordero wound up tearing his latissimus dorsi muscle at the back of his shoulder on April 29 and has been on the disabled list since. The 26-year-old right-hander was showing signs of progress while rehabbing at the Nationals' spring training complex in Viera, Fla., and team officials believed he might be ready to return later this month. But he began experiencing pain in the last week, and an arthrogram taken Monday revealed the labrum tear.
Cordero will have surgery in Los Angeles later this week, and the club won't know how long he'll be out until the operation is complete. Team officials, though, are prepared to lose him for anywhere from 12 to 18 months, a serious blow to a Washington bullpen that has struggled without its closer.
"It's really unfortunate," manager Manny Acta said. "It's sad, because we have missed him so bad this first half. We were looking forward to him coming back in the second half so he could stabilize our bullpen and make it better. But it's just one more injury for us."
MARLINS 6, NATIONALS 5 (10 innings): Jon Rauch surrendered a pair of crushing home runs -- Hanley Ramirez's game-tying shot in the ninth and Josh Willingham's game-winner in the 10th -- to send Washington to a frustrating loss. The Nationals had taken a 5-4 lead in the eighth thanks in part to a perfectly executed hit-and-run from Paul Lo Duca. But Rauch couldn't hold the lead and wound up suffering his fifth blown save in 21 tries this season as Washington's fill-in closer while Chad Cordero battles a shoulder injury.
