CBS Sports is reporting that Nats OF Elijah Dukes pulled his hamstring during today’s game and walked off the field slowly. The severity of the injury is unknown at the time.

As Andrew noted earlier, Wily Mo tore his oblique and now Dukes is down with a hamstring. Looks like Lastings will get his shot in the Nats OF right away.

In a story by the Associated Press, Nationals OF Elijah Dukes claims to a be a changed man.

“I’ve been working on myself a long time, and I finally found a breakthrough,” the 23-year-old Dukes said. “And from now on, everybody gets a chance to really see (what) the real Elijah Dukes is like. I’ve always been working on it, it’s just been issues of mine and I think now I finally tuned it up a bit so I can stay on the field the whole year.”

Dukes, while talented, has been arrested six times since 1998. This offseason, the Nationals traded for Dukes from the Rays.

While I doubt they’ll contend this year, or even next year, the Nats have a nice young OF corps there with Dukes, Lastings Milledge, Wily Mo Pena and if 1B Nick Johnson can every stay healthy at 1B they could look to be a playoff contender in the next few years. Even down the stretch this year they could be scary and play spoiler.

Two sources confirm that both the Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Nationals have been discussing a deal that will send OF Elijah Dukes to Washington. The St. Petersburg Times has more on the story.

There is only circumstantial evidence, including word that Nationals GM Jim Bowden was overheard on his cell phone yesterday at the airport talking to someone named “Elijah.” And both teams have scheduled announcements at 5 p.m. Plus, the deal would explain why Dukes, the troubled outfielder, hasn’t played since his latest eruption after being ejected from a Dominican League game on Thursday night.

UPDATE 2:18pm EST : Dave Sheinin at The Washington Post confirms that the Nats have acquired Dukes.