The Washington Nationals just can’t catch a break.

According to the Washington Post, Jordan Zimmermann will have season ending ligament replacement surgery—otherwise known as Tommy John surgery.

Not only will Zimmermann miss the rest of the 2009 season, but he might miss all of the 2010 season as well. Based on pitchers in the past who have had Tommy John surgery, it usually takes a pitcher a year and a half to fully recover from the procedure.

This is a huge blow to the Nationals.

Zimmermann, a 23-year-old right-hander, was supposed to be one of the cornerstones of the Nationals’ starting rotation along with John Lannan and hopefully Stephen Strasburg.

Zimmermann was 3-5 with a 4.63 ERA on the season, but he showed great promise and had 92 K’s in 91.1 IP.

If there is anything positive to take out of this, it's that with the advancements in this procedure, Zimmermann should be able to not only pitch again, but make a full recovery.

When Zimmermann returns at the age of 25, he will still have his whole career in front of him.

If Zimmermann wants to feel better about things all he needs to do is place a phone call to Joakim Soria, Kerry Wood, Josh Johnson, Chris Carpenter, Erik Bedard, or A.J. Burnett. They are just some of the many pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery and have gone on to have successful major-league careers.