National’s manager Davey Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that slugger Mike Morse will be back “for sure,” by June 8th. That means he will return for the opening game of a 3-game interleague series at Fenway Park against the Red Sox and handle the National’s DH duties. That will be Morse’s first game action of 2012 as he has been out since tearing his right lat muscle in spring training. In Morse’s first full season as an everyday starter last year, he was by far the National’s best hitter, leading the team in AVG (.303), HR (31), RBI (95), OBP (.360), SLG (.550), OPS (.910), 2B (36), and R (73). Morse will be rejoining a National’s lineup that needs him desperately, as they currently rank 25th in the majors in runs scored (163). Assuming Mike comes back as the same player he was in 2011, he will go a long way towards making up for the production lost with potentially season ending injuries to Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos. If Morse’s presence in the lineup is enough to just lift the Nat’s offense from below average to mediocre, they will definitely be contenders with their outstanding pitching staff.  Read more...