The Nationals had hoped that Tyler Walker would be able to recover from an injury that sidelined him earlier this month. Now, as Bill Ladson is reporting, his injured labrum will require surgery and Walker will miss the rest of the season.
RHP Tyler Walker is out for the season. He will have labrum surgery soon.
When Walker first landed on the DL, it seemed like it was just an accumulation of minor injuries, and the reliever only needed some rest. This is a quote from an article by Adam Kilgore published right after he suffered the injury.
"I kind of didn't realize how banged up it was," Walker said. "You kind of get in that mode where you're good enough to pitch, you're OK. Hopefully we can get it right. I don't want to go back out and have it not be OK. That's putting these guys in a bad spot. I want to make sure I'm ready to go."
But after some unsuccessful minor league appearances and setbacks in his rehab, Walker will be shelved for the rest of the season. We'll have a better idea of what we can expect from him next year when we find out the results of the pending surgery.