Chavis, Adams get first chance to play

Every member of the Nationals’ Opening Day bullpen had made his season debut by Sunday. Tonight, every member of their Opening Day bench will have done the same.

Riley Adams and Michael Chavis are each in the starting lineup for the first time, Adams catching and Chavis at second base for the Nats’ game against the Rays, their fifth overall game this season.

Manager Davey Martinez said he didn’t want either reserve to sit too long, especially after playing as regularly as they did during spring training. Chavis took 44 plate appearances in the Grapefruit League, batting .225 with a double, a homer and four RBIs; Adams took 42 plate appearances, batting .237 with two doubles, a team-high three homers and six RBIs.

Neither has played, though, since last Tuesday’s exhibition finale against the Yankees. The hope is that both managed to stay engaged through their workouts over the last week despite the lack of actual game action.

“You’re talking about two guys who are workaholics,” Martinez said. “They get plenty of swings throughout the day to keep themselves ready. They’re both in great shape. But I’ve got to understand they’ve got to get in the game. They’ve got to play a little bit, too. It’s part of it, so today they get an opportunity to play.”

Chavis, 27, made the club this spring off a minor league contract, beating out Matt Adams, Stone Garrett and Jeter Downs for the final spot on the bench. A veteran of parts of four seasons with the Red Sox and Pirates, he has made 151 of his 247 career starts at first base but won’t see much time there in Washington, with Dominic Smith and Joey Meneses ahead of him on the depth chart.

Chavis starts tonight at second base, giving Luis García (who has begun the season 1-for-14) a scheduled day off. This comes two days after Martinez gave starting shortstop CJ Abrams a scheduled day off as well, replaced by Ildemaro Vargas.

Chavis can also play third base and left field, but Martinez cautioned opportunities may be few and far between given his role as the 26th man on the roster.

“I talked to Michael when he made the team: ‘You’re going to probably pinch-hit, pinch-run, play sporadically at different positions,’” Martinez said. “‘But make sure you’re always ready.’ He’s been really good about it.”

Riley Adams gets the nod behind the plate, giving Keibert Ruiz his first day off so far this season. Given how much the Nationals have invested in Ruiz, Adams may only have his name called once or twice a week for the majority of the season.

The 26-year-old at times struggled to maintain a productive bat last season while getting few starts, and at one point the Nationals sent him to Triple-A Rochester to get more consistent at-bats. But the organization has been pleased with his work behind the plate and has seen improvement with a shorter swing he hopes will result in more contact.

“We always talk about the biggest thing is the game-calling. He’s gotten a lot better at that,” Martinez said. “Over the course of last year, towards the end of the year, a lot of guys really enjoyed throwing to him when he was out there. So we didn’t really miss much with that. And this year, he came back and changed a little bit of his swing. We saw some more power in his swing, which was awesome to see.”

Though all 26 players who were on the Opening Day roster have now appeared in a game, there’s still one player on the current active roster who has not: Outfielder Stone Garrett, who was called up from Rochester on Sunday after Corey Dickerson landed on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain.