Martinez impressed with early arrivals; no six-man rotation for now

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – These early days of spring training are supposed to be reserved for pitchers and catchers. Position players technically don’t report until Tuesday.

Stroll through the Nationals clubhouse, though, or walk around their practice fields, and you can’t help but notice how many position players already are here.

Of the 29 position players invited to big league camp this spring, all but two were on the field today for informal workouts. Only prospects Dylan Crews and Darren Baker have yet to be seen, and if they show up Saturday they’d still be reporting three days early.

This isn’t a byproduct of any message from club officials, subtle or unsubtle. It’s been up to the individual players to arrive at their own preferred pace, and nearly all of them chose to arrive early.

“The message is to make sure they’re ready go for spring training,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I always tell them: Be in shape as if you’re coming in to play a game. And they took it to heart. A lot of them – because the weather’s so good – they came here early and started to work out. When I came here, we already had 15-16 guys working out. I thought that was pretty impressive. I’m happy they’re here. I’m happy they’re working this early.”

Martinez, and plenty of other staffers, have been most interested to watch some of the young prospects who are in major league camp for the first time. The manager made a point to stay on the fields after pitchers and catchers were done today to watch James Wood, Brady House and Robert Hassell III take batting and fielding practice and came away impressed.

“It’s awesome to see those guys,” Martinez said. “They’re young. Hopefully they’re going to learn a lot this spring, and we’ll get them going. They’re a big part of our future. …

“They fit in. They’ve been interacting with a lot of guys out there. We’re not even really in camp yet, and I saw them take infield today and was like, wow.”

* The Nationals quietly had one of the most durable rotations in baseball last year, using only eight starters along the way. And one of those (Jackson Rutledge) wasn’t even needed until mid-September.

They spent most of the final two months of the season utilizing a six-man rotation, which helped spread out the work of their younger arms and ensured they wouldn’t hit their innings limits too soon.

Which raises the obvious question: Will they go with a six-man rotation again this year?

The answer for now: Not yet.

“We have so many days off in the beginning of the year,” Martinez said. “But I think eventually we will go to a six-man again.”

The Nationals have only one scheduled seven-day week through the end of May, so extra rest is already built in for their projected five starters (Josiah Gray, MacKenzie Gore, Patrick Corbin, Jake Irvin, Trevor Williams). The days off become fewer and far between as summer arrives, so perhaps by then there will be more need to add a sixth starter.

Beyond that, though, the team is in a better position this year to let its young starters take on more workload. Gray threw 159 innings last season and should have no restrictions this season. Gore got to the 136-inning mark and should be fine to build up to 175-180 this year. Irvin got to 121 as a rookie, after he already threw 22 1/3 at Triple-A, so he’s also free to add to that total.