A "lean" Harper is here and Williams is excited (with photos, video)

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals Manager Matt Williams took the field at Space Coast Stadium to throw some batting practice to a handful of his talented hitters. The group included Anthony Rendon, Denard Span, Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper.

The 22-year-old Harper made his first appearance of spring training in the clubhouse this morning, showing a trim but bulked-up frame after the four-month offseason.

"Reporting today, he looked in great shape," said Williams. "He's lean. He's really lean. He's in fantastic shape. Certainly, his swing is there. I threw him batting practice today and we almost had to get another bucket of balls. So that's a good thing."

With his normal violent swings, Harper deposited a number of Williams pitches over the right field wall in the afternoon BP session. It's just a start for Harper, who's looking to stay healthy after injuries have robbed him of 106 games the past two seasons.

"I think he feels good," Williams said. "Last year coming in, he had a little bit of a barking knee post-surgery. He doesn't have those issues this year. So he's full and ready and itching to play. He's looking forward to tomorrow like we all are."

Williams will move Harper to right field this season to utilize his speed and cannon-like arm. Despite Harper playing in 91 games there earlier in his career, the manager sees this spring training as an important for him to get acclimated at his new position.

"Well, he's changing positions," Williams said. "So that's first and foremost a new challenge, because it's on the other side of the diamond. He's played there before, but he doesn't have a lot of reps there. So that's part of the process there."

Last season was disappointing for Harper. He was never able to recover from a torn ligament in his thumb in April that eventually required surgery. Harper ended up batting close to his career average at .272 with 13 home runs and 32 RBIs, but had 104 strikeouts in 295 plate appearances.

Assuming he's healthy, expectations for Harper are high.

"I think offensively he is poised to take all the next appropriate steps that he needs to take," said Williams. "He'll get better in all aspects of his offense. That comes with experience, knowing the league, knowing himself better, all of those things. And then beyond that, in the clubhouse, he can become certainly more of a leader and help our team along the way. So all of those things combined, he'll take those appropriate steps this year and have a great year for us."

Amazing to think of a 22-year-old as a leader in a clubhouse full of veterans like Ryan Zimmerman, Jayson Werth and Doug Fister. But Harper is now entering his fourth season in the majors with and veteran status isn't far behind despite his age.

Williams said all position players went through physicals with no issues today. Werth will be limited early in spring training while he continues to recover from January shoulder surgery.

"He's still in the rehab process, so he'll be a little late getting started," Williams said of Werth. "He understands the whole process here and what we're trying to do, and he's one of our leaders in that regard. So there won't be any issue with that. He's just a little bit late getting started."

Outfielder Nate McLouth, also coming off shoulder surgery, will be monitored while on a throwing program. There was some concern about Span after December hernia surgery, but Williams said his center fielder and leadoff man is ready.

"Span is full-go," he said. "Spannie feels good. We want to make sure we don't push him too hard. But, yeah, he's full and ready to go."

Williams again dealt with questions about distractions for his star player entering contract years. This topic will linger throughout spring training and most likely during the regular season. And it's understandable why when you're talking about two top-flight pitchers in Jordan Zimmermann and Fister, arguably the game's best-hitting shortstop in Ian Desmond and Span.

Today, Williams zeroed in on two of those players when asked if he was concerned about off-the-field business matters interfering with his team's success.

"A lot of the focus was Desi, a lot of the focus was Zim," said Williams. "I care about their mentality. We've had the discussion and their response is, 'We are Washington Nationals. And we are proud of that and we are ready to do what we can to help our team win.' I don't think either one of them are thinking about it at this point. They want to play. They want to go out there and compete. And that's where we're all at right now. What will happen will happen. Not much we can do about it at this point other than get ready for the season and play. And they're both very focused on that, which is a really good thing. There was a lot of talk during the winter time and that's good. It means they're both very good players. It means they're desirable to other teams but at the end of the day as we sit here right now they're on our club and they're going to help us win."

Here are some highlights from today, including video of Williams throwing Harper some batting practice:

Nats manager Matt Williams rakes the infield dirt at Space Coast Stadium.

Bryce Harper exits the field after taking batting practice.

Danny Espinosa after taking a few swings in batting practice.

Position players get ready for some BP by stretching.

Wilson Ramos takes some cuts as Dan Butler looks on from the batting cage.