Washington Nationals' Davey Johnson Tells Reporters "No Possibility" Of Christian Garcia Being On Opening Day Roster

Washington Nationals' manager Davey Johnson updated reporters on Christian Garcia earlier this week. "He feels real good, he doesn't feel any discomfort in that area," Johnson said, referring to the right-hander's wrist, where the 27-year-old pitcher suffered a partially torn tendon while throwing earlier this Spring. "We have a wrist/arm specialist in [the Baltimore] area," Johnson explained, "that he'll probably have to be examined by before we let him resume throwing." Johnson said then that Garcia would have to make a visit to the doctor before he could get back on the mound and begin catching up on the time he's missed since he was shut down in late February. Garcia's expected to go to Baltimore to see the specialist this weekend, but as the Nats' skipper explained this morning, the reliever/starter has already missed too much time to be available by Opening Day.

Johnson, in fact, told reporters this morning, including MASN's Dan Kolko and NatsInsider.com's Mark Zuckerman, that there was "no possibility" of Garcia being available by Opening Day on April 1st. Once he starts throwing again, again according to the reports, the former New York Yankees' prospect signed by the Nats in July of 2011, will likely remain at the team's facilities in Florida "'We'll probably keep him down here once he starts throwing, see where he's at,'" the manager's quoted explaining by NatsInsider.com's Mr. Zuckerman.

The Nationals had planned on stretching Garcia out this Spring in the hope that he could provide them with additional starting depth, one area the team thinks still needs to be addressed. According to both the MASN and NatsInsider.com reports, that plan hasn't changed. The right-hander started the 2012 campaign, his second in the organization, at Double-A Harrisburg where Garcia was (1-0) with seven saves, a 1.80 ERA, 1.30 FIP, six walks (2.70 K/9) and 28 Ks (12.60 K/9) in 18 games and 20.0 IP. The right-hander then moved up to Triple-A Syracuse, where he saved 14 games and posted a 0.56 ERA, 1.87 FIP, 11 walks (3.06 BB/9) and 38 Ks (10.58 K/9) in 27 games and 32.1 IP before he was called up to the nation's capital where he put up a 2.13 ERA, a 3.73 FIP, two walks (1.42 BB/9) and 15 Ks (10.66 K/9) in 13 G and 12.2 IP.