WASHINGTON -- Matt Wieters had some encouraging news prior to Sunday afternoon's 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. A few days after he underwent surgery to repair his left hamstring, the timetable for his return could end up being much sooner than expected.
The surgery was not to repair a complete tear of his hamstring; rather, it just fixed a tendon that connects the hamstring to the bone. The incision needs roughly two weeks to heal, and then Wieters estimated that he could begin rehabbing like he would from a normal hamstring injury, putting his timetable at roughly six weeks from that date.
"It's one of those injuries that you'd rather not have it happen and it's not great, but at the same time, it could've been a lot worse than it was," Wieters said.
Considering hamstring injuries do not typically require surgery unless they are complete tears, it was possible Wieters was looking at a lengthy recovery, if he were able to return at all this season. So Wieters returned from Fort Worth, Texas, this weekend after his surgery, feeling fortunate that he will have a chance to return soon.

The tendon Wieters had removed was one that is often taken out and used as a graft for some ACL surgeries or Tommy John repairs, so he could afford to lose it. Wieters described the surgery as more of a cleanup procedure to completely remove the tendon and help his injury heal.
"They said the squatting and catching part of it will probably be the easier part of it," Wieters said. "Normally, running comes along a little bit slower for guys, but it's not really my strong suit anyway, so hopefully we'll be OK there."
Worth noting
• Ryan Madson was unavailable during Saturday's doubleheader, and he did not pitch on Sunday, either, because of some discomfort in his chest muscles. Following the game, the Nationals placed him on the 10-day DL with a chest strain.
• Adam Eaton played catch in the outfield prior to Sunday's game, his first baseball activity on the field since his ankle cast was removed last week.