Nick Senzel comeback halted by latest injury on Opening Day

Nick Senzel entered the 2024 season looking to rehabilitate his MLB career with the Washington Nationals. Unfortunately, he’ll begin the first part of the season rehabilitating a broken right thumb.

Senzel suffered the injury fielding a grounder during pre-game preparation ahead of Thursday’s Opening Day against his former team the Cincinnati Reds. The injury forced Senzel to be a late-game scratch. Ildemaro Vargas replaced Senzel at third base.

Nick Senzel was once one of baseball’s highly touted prospects. The Reds selected Senzel second overall in the 2016 MLB Draft. But injuries derailed his career. He suffered a torn ligament in his right index finger in 2018. In 2019, he dealt with a torn labrum. Two years later, a knee injury limited him to 36 games.

Senzel became a free agent after the Reds non-tendered him this past winter. The Nationals signed him to a one-year deal, moving back to third base where his career began. Washington took a feeler on a former top prospect, hoping to fill a void at third that has existed since the departure of Anthony Rendon.

Those plans are now halted before Senzel took the field for his first game. What makes the situation even more devastating is the injury occurred at Great American Ballpark, the home of the Reds.