Washington Nationals Pitcher Ryan Mattheus Breaks Pitching Hand By Punching Locker

The Washington Nationals bullpen has gotten even weaker after relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus suffered an injury in the locker room following his brutal performance during the team’s 13-4 loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday night. After the game, Mattheus took his frustration out in the locker room by punching a locker. Unfortunately, that just added to his frustrations by causing Mattheus to suffer a broken throwing hand.

There is no immediate timetable for his return, but he is expected to “be out a while” following his trip to the hand specialist, according to the Washington Post.

Mattheus did not know the full extent of his injury until he was unable to grip the ball after arriving to the ballpark on Monday. He told pitching coach Steve McCatty the news and then had to undergo an x-ray that revealed a fracture above the knuckle on his throwing hand.

“I was pretty upset, and I let my emotions get the best of me,” Mattheus said. “I hit my locker, and unfortunately I injured myself. It’s pretty embarrassing. It’s a tough one to swallow. I feel like I let the other 25 guys down on this team. I let the whole Washington Nationals organization down doing something stupid.

“That’s what’s so embarrassing about it. It’s absolutely something I can control. It’s not like I hurt myself out on the field. I got to do a better job of that.

At least Mattheus understands how stupid it was for him to go and injure himself. Unfortunately for the Nationals, they will need to find a way to move forward for the next month or so until he returns.

“It’s a little bit of a rough patch for us, especially us in the bullpen,” pitcher Zach Duke said. “We’ll keep grinding through. We’ll find a way to get guys out and hold leads and keep games close. We’ll find a way.”