First Place -24 -6 = ???

If it's tuesday, there must be more injuries. The Washington Capitals of MLB (At least in terms of training-staff ability) have been bitten by two more, this time to their two best hitters, Nick Johnson and Jose Guillen.

Guillen's is less serious. He has an injured shoulder, supposedly from a collision with the catcher. (On the play he slid into home ahead of Hudson's throw?)

He's expected to be day-to-day, but given NJ's injury and his (what I'll charitably describe as) intensity, I'd be shocked if he missed more than a game.

Johnson's is more troubling. He injured his heel on his awkward dash to the plate in Sunday's game. It's listed as a deep bone bruise. I suppose it was just a matter of time before our Mr. Glass shattered.

He's supposed to be out three to seven games. Given his history, bank on the seven.

In the meantime, our pitiful offense becomes even more pathetic.

There are several options.

Wilfredo Cordero could slide into first and try to double his anemic .020 batting average. (That it'd take only one hit to double it is pretty damn sad!)

A much better option is sliding Brad Wilkerson to first. Ryan Church could play center and Marlon Byrd could slide into the corner.

It's possible that Tony Blanco could 'play' the outfield as well, even though they just said that the team is committed to limiting him to first and third a few days ago.

No matter which way you go, it's probably not going to be pretty. Even with our 3 and 4 batters, this offense has a hard time scratching out runs.

But, this doesn't create problems just with our offense. This will put additional strain on our over-worked bullpen, especially if the game is close in the late innings.

So, get healthy Jose! Get healthy NJ. We really need you.