Hoping for a "jumpstart," Martinez moves Senzel up to bat second against lefty starter

MIAMI – After yesterday’s offensive outburst, Davey Martinez is hoping the bats will continue swinging well to get more consistent production moving forward.

One bat he’s hoping to get going in particular is Nick Senzel.

Senzel has been moved up to the No. 2 hole – behind CJ Abrams and in front of Jesse Winker, both lefty hitters – for this afternoon’s game against Marlins left-handed starter Ryan Weathers. Senzel's right-handed bat has recorded hits in four of his last five games, including his third home run of the season last night, and has a career slash line of .285/.333./.463 with a .796 OPS against left-handed pitching.

Martinez hopes moving Senzel up the order will help kickstart his offense.

“He's notorious for hitting left-handed pitching,” the skipper said of Senzel. “So I wanted to break up those lefties a little bit. Winker will hit behind him. It balances out our lineup a little bit more. So I decided to do that today.”

The Nationals brought in Senzel on a one-year, $2 million deal in December to be their everyday third baseman while hoping that having him play one position consistently would result in better offensive production. He is only hitting .200 with a .750 OPS so far this year, but has been limited to just nine games because of injuries and an illness.

His string of bad luck started before the regular season even began. Senzel fractured his thumb trying to field an errant grounder during pregame warmups on Opening Day in Cincinnati, delaying his season debut until April 15. Then he was scratched from Thursday’s lineup and sat out Friday’s game while battling a stomach illness.

“He's been good. He's been really good,” Martinez said. “He's had a rough month. He broke his thumb. He's been sick. So I kind of want to try to jumpstart him a little bit because, like I said, he's a really good player and he can make things happen.”

When Senzel has played, he has been able to produce. He has hits in six of his nine games and is tied with Winker and Joey Gallo for second on the team with three home runs. His .500 slugging percentage is also second on the team while his OPS is fifth. He just needs more playing time and consistent at-bats.

Hitting second while facing a lefty starter today could be a good takeoff point.

“I'm hoping to get him going, too,” Martinez said. “We need him. He's a big part of our lineup. So hopefully, moving him up, he'll get some good pitches to hit and we can get him going.”

The rest of Martinez’s lineup against Weathers is very righty-heavy. Abrams and Winker are the only two true lefty bats starting today, with switch-hitter Ildemaro Vargas batting from the right side.

That leaves a handful of lefty bats on the bench for Martinez to play matchups with later in the game.