Hearing from Doolittle, Sánchez, Zimmerman, Martinez after 3-1 loss

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Sean Doolittle's primary goal in his first game action of spring training was to focus on his secondary pitches.

For a guy who usually makes hay with an array of rising fastballs, challenging hitters to square up a pitch they know is coming at them, that can be a tall order - especially when he hasn't faced hitters in a game yet this spring.

"I have some different grips I'm trying," he said after throwing a scoreless inning, fanning a pair and allowing a hit in a 3-1 loss to the Mets. "I've been working with some of our starting pitchers who've been watching my bullpen sessions and trying to just change the philosophy a little bit with how I'm trying to use it. Going back to last September and October we started doing it.

"If it's a guy I'm going to face I'm probably going to show him a bunch of different stuff that I might not do during the season just to see it how it actually plays, to keep him from seeing my fastball three or four times. But also to maybe plant the seed in the back of his mind or in the scouting report that I'll throw some secondary pitches a little more frequently if I need to. It's more for me than anything else because as a reliever we tend to pitch a little more to our strengths. So you really want to have what you're good at dialed in."

So on Sunday, against a Mets team the Nationals will face six times in the first nine games of the regular season, Doolittle broke out a slider among the 15 pitches he threw. Three of the hitters he faced (the bottom of the order) saw the pitch, but not leadoff man Jeff McNeil.

"See what the shape looks like, see how they're taking it, see if I can develop some more confidence in it," Doolittle said. "We're gonna see these guys in three weeks. Maybe there'll just be a little bit of a thought in the back of their mind, I don't know."

While manager Davey Martinez was pleased with the successful experimentation with the slider, he doesn't want Doolittle to stray too far from his bread and butter.

"He's at a point now in his career where he wants to utilize two, maybe three pitches," Martinez said. "He understands that. My biggest thing with him is the elevated fastball. He's got to have command of that and get it up there."

The swings and misses the lefty coaxed out of his fastball are a sign that he's already developing the "late life" Martinez likes to see, a product of effective backspin.

"He was good," Martinez said. "Fastball had a little zip. I kinda liked it. He also threw a couple of sliders. He understands he wants to mix some of those sliders in this year. I thought he threw the ball real well."

Doolittle was pleased with the way the ball came out of his hand and the amount of backspin he was able to create. All in all, a decent first outing for a guy who carefully critiques each effort. There was no issue with the balky knee that sent him to the injured list in the midst of a pennant race, a signal that his diligent offseason of stimulation treatments five days a week has paid off.

"I hope I didn't set the bar too high for myself," he said. "But it usually takes weeks in camp to get swings and misses off my fastball. So I'm hoping a lot of the work I did this offseason is translating and I feel like I'm in a better tempo and a better position mechanically."

While Doolittle was focused on his secondary pitches, starter Aníbal Sánchez was concentrating on length - specifically elongating his start to three innings after going two frames in his first Grapefruit League game.

Sánchez allowed two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out three. He threw 49 pitches, 29 for strikes.

"I feel really good today. A little bit off with my command early in the game, but after that, I try to send every pitch on the corners. It was working pretty good after the first inning."

Seven Mets batted in the first inning, with Robinson Canó's two-run double staking the home team to a quick 2-0 lead.

"His first inning, he couldn't find the strike zone, but after that, he settled down. ... He didn't miss by much," Martinez said. "I told him, 'Don't get frustrated, you really didn't miss by much.' But he was good."

For Sánchez, Sunday's start was more about stamina over sharpness.

"The inning finished is your goal," he said. "If I have three innings today, I want to finish my three innings. I don't want to be at 2 1/3 or 2 2/3. The key for every starter is to finish the goal."

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman, playing on back-to-back days for the first time this spring, notched his first hit of Grapefruit League play. He doubled into the right field corner with one out in the fourth off Edwin Díaz.

The elder statesman on the Nationals is content easing himself into spring games and isn't putting too much pressure on himself to produce offensively.

"I don't really envision myself getting more than two or three at-bats for the next couple of weeks," Zimmerman said. "But you can play. For me, it's more about getting my body in the routine of getting ready to play every day. Playing for two at-bats of four innings in the field - I don't need to play innings right now; it's more about getting my body ready. At the plate, it's more just getting your at-bats. ... I've hit .400 down here and I've hit .100 down here. At the end of the day, when April comes around - I guess when late March comes around now - if you've played for a good amount, you'll be ready to play."