Paul Lo Duca's bruised, swollen right hand still hasn't progressed to the point where he can swing a bat with any confidence, so the Nationals have decided to purchase the contract of catcher Wil Nieves from Class AAA Columbus and get him to Shea Stadium ASAP so the team can have two healthy catchers for tonight's game agianst the Mets and the rest of the series.
Nieves, a glove-first catcher who did have a decent spring, was in Durham, N.C., with the Clippers and is due to land in New York at 7:40 p.m. The club hopes he is at the ballpark and in uniform about halfway through the game, maybe around 8:30 or so. Johnny Estrada will be on his own until then, though Jim Bowden says the Nats do have an emergency catcher ... Aaron Boone. No, Boone has never caught a game in the big leagues or minor leagues, but he apparently did it once in college or something. Besides, the guy has to have some kind of catching instincts in his blood -- his father only spent like 37 years behind the plate in the big leagues. (I may be exaggerating a bit.)
To make room for Nieves, reliever Chris Schroder was optioned to Columbus. Schroder had made only two appearances in more than two weeks, so there's no reason surprise there, and he probably would have been the guy to go down this weekend when and if Shawn Hill is activated.
As for Lo Duca, the swelling and discoloration on the back of his right hand is still very evident. He said he can grip a bat and begin to swing, but once he gets to the point of contact, the pain becomes too much to bear. "And I can't swing one-handed," he points out. X-rays were negative, so there probably isn't a broken bone, but Lo Duca will go through some more tests to determine if there's anything else going on there. Is he headed for the DL? Not yet, but I would think if he's not ready to go by Friday in Florida, the club will DL him and that will clear the roster spot for Hill to come back and pitch against the Marlins.
Other pregame news: Manny Acta has tweaked his lineup, though not the move some of you proposed in today's live chat, and the one I thought about last night (flip-flopping Nick Johnson and Ryan Zimmerman). No, instead Acta has bumped Ronnie Belliard up to the No. 2 spot and put Lastings Milledge in the 5-hole, moving slumping Austin Kearns to the 6-spot. The reasoning is twofold: Acta wants to try to get Belliard out of his funk and thinks he might be more productive batting second than seventh or eighth (and indeed he did do well last year when hitting second). Also, he wants to try to take advantage of Milledge (one of the few guys hitting right now) by putting him in a position to drive in some runs instead of being a table setter for others.
