Guzman to represent Nationals

WASHINGTON — Each time Cristian Guzman has stepped to the plate this year he has seen the ball clearly, an enormous difference from last season.

The Nationals’ shortstop has performed so well this year thanks to his improved sight (aided by offseason Lasik surgery) that he earned a selection to the National League All-Star team as a reserve by Colorado manager Clint Hurdle Sunday. It is the second all-star selection for Guzman after representing Minnesota in 2001.

“He feels that was the main reason for the failures, not being able to see the ball easily,” manager Manny Acta said, interpreting Guzman’s comments from Spanish before Tuesday’s game against Arizona.

“He feels he should be this kind of hitter the rest of his life because from now on he can see.”

The kind of hitter the 6-foot Dominican Republic native has been this year is one with a team-leading .313 average (sixth in the N.L.) and is leading the league with 119 hits.

Guzman, the team’s leadoff hitter much of the year, has a team-best 50 runs scored and leads Washington with 25 doubles (Felipe Lopez and Lastings Milledge are tied for second with 16 each).

“That’s been the difference, being able to see,” Acta said. “He feels that he could see maybe the rotation of the ball, but not being able to see the stitches on the ball.

“He doesn’t feel he can see them right now, either,” Acta added, prompting a laugh from Guzman.

The 30-year-old switch hitter is proud to represent the Nationals next week at Yankee Stadium for the Mid-Summer Classic and possibly help give the N.L. home-field advantage for the World Series for the first time since Major League Baseball tied the result of the game to the decision in 2003.

“That’ll make him very happy, to come off the bench and get a big hit or something,” Acta said. “Everybody looks forward to something like that.”

DUKES HEADS TO DL, WILL HAVE SURGERY
Outfielder Elijah Dukes was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to July 6 and will head to Tampa Bay for arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday General Manager Jim Bowden announced yesterday.

“The young man wants to be out there to play,” Acta said. “He has expressed that he’s feeling bad that he won’t be able to be here when (Ryan) Zimmerman and Lastings (Milledge) come back. He wanted to be part of that.”

Dukes suffered a meniscus tear and a partial tear of the patellar tendon while making a running catch in Cincinnati Saturday. He was hitting .263 with six home runs and 20 RBI in 52 games this year. The 24 year-old missed time to begin the season with a hamstring injury out of Spring Training.

“I just hope that they take care of it and when he comes back he has a brand new knee and he won’t have to worry about it again,” Acta said.

Former Potomac National Kory Casto, 26, was recalled from Triple-A Columbus to replace Dukes on the roster and was available for last night’s game.

NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS
Jason Bergmann stood at the top step of the home dugout, goading Washington’s MLB.com writer Bill Lasden to pick up a bat. The Nationals pitcher wanted the scribe to show how easy it is to bunt.

The writer quickly declined, laughing and interpreting the conversation as some good-natured ribbing.

Lasden recently called out the Nationals’ players (particularly the pitchers) for not being fundamentally sound in their games in response to a weekly mailbag question from a fan.

He decried the staff’s inability to lay down a bunt (with the exceptions of Tim Redding and Odalis Perez) and punctuated it by saying “Even I could bunt.”

On Tuesday he got his chance.

Before the regulars took their batting practice, Acta and several other players familiar with the story convinced Lasden to don a helmet and dig in against pitching coach Randy St. Claire to demonstrate bunt fundamentals.

Lasden stepped up, saying later that he feared St. Claire might just bean him, fouling off three straight tries to the first base side.

“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Lasden said to a teasing Ronnie Belliard afterward.