Gallo to stay at first base as Rosario gets look in center field

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The notion that the Nationals signed Joey Gallo to be their primary left fielder, taking advantage not only of his power potential but also his Gold Glove arm? That doesn’t appear to be part of the plan anymore.

The combination of Gallo’s sore quad this spring and the recent signings of Eddie Rosario and Jesse Winker have convinced manager Davey Martinez to use Gallo primarily at first base for now.

“I think right now the idea is to keep Gallo at first base, and DH him at times, too,” Martinez said. “Especially now that he had this little tweak of his quad. We’ll try to keep him out of the outfield for now. Who knows what’s going to happen in the future, but I want him to be healthy before we even put him in the outfield.”

Gallo played his eighth game of the spring Thursday night, his fifth at first base. He served as designated hitter the other three times. He opened camp splitting workout time between the outfielders and infielders, but in recent weeks has worked exclusively at first base, this after missing several days with the quad injury.

Signed in January for $5 million to bring some much-needed power to a Nationals lineup that ranked last in the National League in homers last season, Gallo also was touted for his defensive ability in the outfield. He won the Gold Glove Award in both 2020 and 2021 and has spoken many times about the pride he takes in being a good defensive player.

He’s not inexperienced at first base, though. Gallo (who actually debuted for the Rangers as a third baseman) has played 147 games at first during his career, 51 of those last year with the Twins.

Asked earlier this month if he was only playing first base in games because of his quad injury, Gallo replied: “I’m just playing wherever they put me. I think that’s just where they want me to work right now.”

“Obviously, I can play outfield whenever,” he added. “You can throw me out there, I’ll be alright. But first base is a position you do have to work a little bit more and get a relationship with the infielders. I think that’s part of it as well.”

If Gallo gets the bulk of the playing time at first base, Joey Meneses is likely going to spend most of his time as DH once again. Meneses, who played only 20 games in the field last season, has said he thinks he’s a more productive hitter when he’s staying more engaged in the game by playing a position. But it appears he’ll have to continue to deal with being only a hitter most days, with an occasional start at first base.

“He’s going to get the bulk of the DH (at-bats),” Martinez said. “But there’s going to be times when I want Joey (Gallo) to DH, and the other Joey (Meneses) will play first.”

All of this also is a byproduct of the two veteran outfielders the Nationals signed in the last month: Winker and Rosario. Both are in camp on minor league deals, but Rosario is expected to make the club and be a regular in the lineup in left and center fields. Winker also is making a strong case to be included, whether as the left fielder or coming off the bench.

Rosario made his center field debut Thursday night and looked comfortable at the position, charging in to make a diving catch of a sinking liner at one point. The 32-year-old has played 865 career games in left field, 83 in right field and only 58 in center field (most of those coming in 2016-17 with the Twins). But the Nats appear determined to at least see if he can handle it on a semi-regular basis.

“The thing about it is to really get his bat in the lineup as much as we can,” Martinez said. “Winker has done really well in left field, but we can do a lot of different things with him as well, as far as left field/DH. They’ve both been swinging the bat well, but Eddie can play some defense, and I’ve said that before. We’re going to see if he can play some center field for us. And if he does, that gives us a lot of options.”

Rosario, for his part, said he’s comfortable in center field if asked to play there.

“When I first signed (as a fourth round pick of the Twins in 2010), I signed as a center fielder,” he said. “I played in the minor leagues in center field. I played a couple games (in the majors) in center field. I feel comfortable.”