Abrams sits again, Wood will DH tonight, Soroka plays catch

CJ Abrams is out of the Nationals lineup a second straight day with an upper right leg ailment, but the shortstop expressed confidence he’ll be back “very soon.”

Abrams didn’t play Monday night’s series opener against the Dodgers, with manager Davey Martinez revealing his shortstop had complained of thigh tightness stemming from the final play of Sunday’s win over the Diamondbacks, in which he charged in to field a grounder and then threw off-balance to first base.

Abrams today referred to his ailment as “kind of a hip flexor thing,” saying it’s not a problem with his thigh. He didn’t seem concerned about it forcing him to miss anything more than a few days.

“It wasn’t anything specific. I just kind of felt it after (the last play Sunday),” he said. “Just took a couple days off, and I should be back out there soon.”

Abrams did take ground balls this afternoon and was planning to take batting practice in the cage prior to this evening’s game. There’s a chance he could come off the bench if needed, but it sounds more likely he returns to the lineup for Wednesday’s series finale or Friday’s series opener in Miami.

“He feels a little bit better. He said he could possibly be available throughout the game,” Martinez said. “He’s going to hit in a little while. We’ll see how he does. I think he’s going to be OK. Hopefully if he doesn’t play today, he’ll be available tomorrow.”

With Abrams sitting, Paul DeJong is again starting at shortstop. The veteran infielder, who has been the Nationals’ everyday third baseman to begin the season, made several nice plays during Monday’s win, looking more than comfortable at the position he spent most of the first eight seasons of his career.

* Josh Bell is getting his first day off the season, opening the door for James Wood to serve as designated hitter for the first time.

Bell, who has been the starting DH for each of the Nats’ first 10 games, has begun to see positive results at the plate after a rough opening week. He’s 4-for-14 with a triple and four walks over his last five games after starting 1-for-19 with a homer through his first five games.

With Bell sitting, Martinez opted to give Wood a chance to DH after starting in left field each of the previous 10 games. That allows hot-hitting Alex Call (7-for-15, two doubles, three walks) to remain in the lineup for the sixth straight game while also clearing the way for center fielder Jacob Young to return to the lineup after a three-day break.

“I’ve been wanting to give him a day where he’s off his feet a little bit,” Martinez said about Wood. “You remember he had an issue with his knee in spring training. So I thought this would be a good day, get Jacob back in there against a lefty. I don’t want Jacob to sit four days in a row.”

Though he started each of the first 10 games in left field, Wood did not finish the 10th game out there. With the Nationals clinging to a 6-4 lead entering the top of the ninth Monday night, Martinez inserted Young for defensive purposes, taking a chance his team would win there and not need to bat again in the bottom of the inning, with Wood due up second at the time.

The same scenario presented itself over the weekend against Arizona, and Martinez decided to keep Wood in the field, just in case his bat was needed later. Monday’s scenario was different, the manager explained, because Kyle Finnegan was attempting to record a five-out save while pitching for the third straight day, perhaps more subject to give up contact to the outfield than he was in previous outings when his arm was fresher.

“At that particular moment, I thought that defense was going to be more important, try to win the game that way,” Martinez said. “We had Finny out there, and it was his second inning, so I thought playing defense would be good.”

* Michael Soroka played catch for the first time since landing on the 15-day injured list, an encouraging sign the right-hander won’t have to miss a significant amount of time.

Soroka was placed on the IL over the weekend with a right biceps strain after being forced out of his season debut following his third pitch of the sixth inning. The club is hopeful he won’t be out long term, and the fact he could throw today bolsters that belief.

“He played catch; he said he felt fine,” Martinez said. “But we’ll have to build him back up again, and we’ll continue to do that.”

* Former Nationals player Tony Blanco was among the more than 60 people killed late Monday night when the roof collapsed at a nightclub in the Dominican Republic during a concert.

Blanco, a Rule 5 Draft pick in 2005, played 56 games for the Nats' inaugural club, spending time in the outfield and at both corner positions. He never played in the majors again after that season but enjoyed a long and productive career in Japan.

Longtime major league reliever Octavio Dotel, who pitched for a record 14 clubs, also died in the tragedy. So did Nelsy Cruz, the governor of the Dominican Republic's Monti Cristi province and sister of seven-time All-Star (and former National) Nelson Cruz.

"My condolences go out to (Nelson Cruz), his family and everybody in the Dominican Republic who lost a valuable member of their family," Martinez said this afternoon. "I love Nelson as a brother. He's a good man. My heart goes out to him, his family."