Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy is unlikely to play for the remainder of the regular season, but manager Dusty Baker is hopeful Murphy will return for the postseason.

Game 1 of the National League Division Series is Oct. 7.

Baker said Murphy is feeling better, but he would be limited to pinch-hit appearances -- at most -- in the Nationals' final four regular-season games.

"He might get a pinch-hit, but I don't want to take him backwards," Baker told reporters, according to the Washington Post. "We'll probably have an intrasquad game or something to get him some live pitching."

Murphy, who leads the Nationals in batting average (.347), home runs (25), RBIs (104), on-base percentage (.391) and hits (184), hasn't played in the field or run the bases since suffering a strained buttocks Sept. 17 against Atlanta.

Bryce Harper, meanwhile, was out of the Nationals' starting lineup for the fourth straight day Thursday. An MRI showed that Harper's thumb had no structural damage, but Baker kept Harper out because of the wet conditions in Washington.

"That thumb is so important in the whole equation," Baker told reporters. "Holding the bat. Holding the ball to throw it. Everything. Or if he'd slide again and put it down and re-bruise it. So I just thought that one more day."