Nationals slugger Werth out indefinitely with broken wrist

CINCINNATI

Washington's Jayson Werth is out indefinitely after another test found that he broke his left wrist two weeks ago.

The outfielder was hit on the wrist by a pitch from the Padres' Odrisamer Despaigne on May 16 and has been unable to swing a bat. With the injury still bothering him, he went for a CT scan Thursday — the team's day off — and it detected two small fractures.

"He's frustrated," manager Matt Williams said. "But again, it just didn't feel right. Something didn't feel right for him. Since it wasn't getting better, we furthered the tests."

Williams says there's no timetable for his return. The bones have to heal before he can resume swinging a bat.

"When they're healed up, he's ready to go," Williams said, before the opening game of a series against the Cincinnati Reds. "It's not like a ligament or something that you have further risk. When the bone's healed, he's ready. At that point, it will be a question of getting him back into playing shape."

Werth didn't rejoin the team after getting the test results.

"He went back home," Williams said. "There's no reason for him to be here other than to sit around and watch. Go back and let it continue to heal and get better as quickly as possible."

The right fielder batted .318 with 25 homers and 82 RBIs in 2013. Last year, he batted .282 with 16 homers and 82 RBIs and led the team with a .338 average with runners in scoring position.

Werth was batting .208 with two homers and 12 RBIs when he got hurt. Williams plans to use several players in right field while he's gone.