Hernández makes first career start in left field

NEW YORK – César Hernández, as a rookie for the Phillies in September 2013, played 22 games in center field. He would switch to the infield full-time the following year, and he’s remained there ever since, establishing himself for nearly a decade as a reliable big league second baseman.

Tonight, Hernández will take the field for the Nationals, and for the first time in nine years he’ll head straight to the outfield, serving as the left fielder for the first time in his career.

“I know he’s not bad out there,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’ve seen him play before. He’s taken some fly balls, and he moves well.”

What prompted that kind of dramatic position switch at this point in the season and at this point in Hernández’s career?

It begins with Nelson Cruz fouling a ball off his right knee during Friday night’s loss to the Mets. The 42-year-old is improving but isn’t able to start tonight, leaving the DH position open.

“He’s a little better, but we’re going to be cautious,” Martinez said. “He still feels it a little bit. I told him, 'Let me know how you feel. Get a little treatment today, see how you feel. If you can pinch-hit, that would be great. But it’s going to be day-to-day.'”

The domino effect of Cruz’s absence: Luke Voit is tonight’s DH, with Joey Meneses moving to first base. That left three outfield positions that needed to be filled. And with Max Scherzer on the mound for the Mets, Martinez decided to use as many left-handed batters as he could find.

So that means rookie Josh Palacios in right field. Lane Thomas, a right-handed hitter, is in center field. And rather than start the right-handed-hitting Victor Robles or Alex Call in the third spot, Martinez will go with the switch-hitting Hernández, whose playing time has significantly decreased in the last week with the Nationals going with a young middle infield tandem of shortstop CJ Abrams and second baseman Luis García.

“César’s hit Scherzer a little bit, so I wanted to get him out there,” the manager said. “And I kind of don’t want to completely shut him down. I want him to play. And I know he’s played the outfield. We’ve talked about him taking some balls out there. We’re getting him out there today, and then we’ll see how Cruzy feels tomorrow.”

Hernández has by far the most prior experience facing Scherzer of anyone on the Nats’ current roster: He has 56 plate appearances vs. the right-hander, while everyone else has combined for 54.

Hernández’s numbers, however, aren’t particularly impressive. He owns a career .204/.232/.278 slash line against Scherzer, going 11-for-54 with four doubles, one RBI, two walks and 15 strikeouts.

“We’ve got him out there today,” Martinez said. “It’s more about trying to score some runs early and trying to get some offense early. Then we’ll see how the game ends up.”