Notes: Guillen continues to progress

03/13/2006
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Outfielder Jose Guillen continued to make progress on Monday afternoon. He took 30 swings apiece off a tee and from soft-tossing without feeling any pain in his left wrist. It's the second day in a row in which Guillen swung the bat.
Prior to Sunday, Guillen had not participated in any baseball activities for 10 days because of fluid and inflammation in the wrist.
Guillen will have similar batting practice on Tuesday and hopes to participate in live batting practice by the end of the week. He then expects to play in a game by next week.
While he wants to be cautious when it comes to Guillen's well being, manager Frank Robinson realizes that it's hard to hold his outfielder back from overdoing rehab work.
"[Guillen is] like Joey Eischen. You can't hold those guys back. They are going to do what they want to do in the first place. They know only one thing and that's all-out," Robinson said. "Jose has a mind-set of his own. He wants to be on the field and help the team. I don't mind that."
While his wrist has dominated the headlines, Guillen said that his left shoulder, which was surgically repaired during the offseason, is close to being 100 percent and it will not prevent him from playing the against the Mets on Opening Day.
"The shoulder feels great. I don't have any more soreness. It doesn't feel weak. My main concern has been my wrist," Guillen said. "I have been doing light work of the shoulder, which is fine. The way I have been swinging, the shoulder has not been a problem. We are in the right direction."
Can't win without them: The loss of pitchers Tony Armas Jr., Luis Ayala, Chad Cordero, and Gary Majewski and catcher Brian Schneider to the World Baseball Classic have been felt in the Nationals organization. Entering Tuesday's action, Washington is 2-11-1 this spring.
"It's hard for Frank to manage a game. It's hard for us to compete when you are sitting there without Cordero, Majewski and Ayala," said general manager Jim Bowden. "They are supposed to pitch every other day. Your catcher, who handles your entire pitching staff, isn't here. It's like the Indianapolis Colts without Peyton Manning. It's hard, but every team is going through the same thing."
In the dark: In the top of the seventh inning, with Nationals first baseman Matt LeCroy at the plate and Mets reliever Yusaku Iriki on the mound, some of the lights at Tradition Field went off at 9:14 p.m. ET. The game was canceled 14 minutes later with the Mets winning the game 10-4. Robinson was told it would have taken about 40 minutes for the lights to be restored.
"It's not that they couldn't get them back on. It was when they were going to get them on," Robinson said. "You are sitting around in Spring Training and the [pitchers] sit and wait. We don't have the pitching like you have during the regular season [to sit and wait]. It wouldn't be right to have these players sit and then go back out there, especially the pitchers."
The lights were eventually restored at 10:31 p.m.
About the game: During the first three innings, the Nationals and Mets were in a slugfest and were tied at 4-4. Robinson thought his team played a good game up to that point as he watched shortstop Royce Clayton make two great plays at shortstop.
But Washington unraveled as New York scored five runs in the fifth inning and another run in the sixth. And the errors continued to mount, as Damian Jackson made two miscues at second base. In the last eight games, Washington has made 18 errors.
"I thought we were playing a good ballgame, but all of a sudden we made two simple errors, silly errors that shouldn't be made. It has to stop," Robinson said.
On the mound: Pedro Astacio pitched his second game of the spring and gave up two runs in three innings. He gave up four hits and walked one batter. Astacio couldn't throw another inning because he already reached his 60-pitch limit.
Astacio is concerned about giving up runs in just his second start because Opening Day is a little more than two weeks away.
"I have to worry about it because it's my job. You have to go there and pitch. You have big-league hitters you have to get out," Astacio said. "I'll continue to work and hope to get better and better."
Robinson was not concerned that Astacio gave up runs. The skipper was pleased was that the right-hander threw strikes.
"He was around the plate, which I liked," Robinson said. "He hung a couple of pitches but I don't mind that. I liked what I saw."
Around the horn: Second baseman Jose Vidro was scheduled to play against the Mets, but he couldn't make it because of a family obligation. He will play three straight games starting Tuesday against the Marlins. ... Eischen is scheduled to play his first game of the spring against the Mets on Wednesday. The reliever has yet to pitch a game because of shoulder tendinitis. ... After signing his contract extension on Saturday, first baseman Nick Johnson missed the last two games because of a stomach virus. Washington hopes that he can return to action on Tuesday against Florida. ... Bowden said that right-hander Ryan Drese most likely will start the season on the disabled list. While he is having bullpen sessions, Drese, who had shoulder surgery in September, has yet to pitch in a game and that will not happen until the end of the exhibition season. ... Bowden expects the Nationals to make more cuts this week.

Source: http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/