Martinez's plan for catchers and No. 5 starters

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Most teams have to find ways to give their No. 1 catcher days off without losing too much in production. Davey Martinez is going to have to find ways to play two No. 1 catchers as much as possible this season.

The Nationals' winter acquisitions of Yan Gomes and Kurt Suzuki leave their manager in an enviable position. Few teams can boast two front-line catchers of this stature, but general manager Mike Rizzo felt it was the smart play after seeing minimal production from his catching corps the last two years.

So Rizzo signed Suzuki to a two-year, $10 million deal. And then he traded three players (including young right-hander Jefry Rodriguez) to the Indians for Gomes, who is guaranteed $12.95 million over the next two years with club options for both 2021 and 2022.

Now it's up to Martinez to figure out how to use his two catchers. The skipper's plan: Play them both.

"It's good to have them both, and I explained to both of them they're both going to play," Martinez said. "But we'll see how it plays out. Obviously, your starting pitchers are going to dictate; maybe one guy likes throwing to or works better with a certain catcher. But they're both exceptional. I don't think we're going to lose anything with either one of them playing."

That may be easier said than done. Gomes started 105 games behind the plate for Cleveland last season. Suzuki started 83 games for Atlanta. There aren't 188 regular season starts to divvy up between the two, so one or both catchers are going to see their workloads reduced to some extent.

Speaking of workload decisions, Martinez and Co. also have to figure out who will open the season as their No. 5 starter and where the others in the mix for that job will go to pitch come late March.

Last week's re-signing of Jeremy Hellickson seemed to settle that issue, but Martinez doesn't want Joe Ross, Erick Fedde or non-roster invitee Henderson Álvarez to assume they're out of the running before camp even gets underway.

"Hellickson obviously is here, and for me he's got the upper hand right now. He's pitched really well for us," Martinez said. "That doesn't mean to say ... we still got two months before opening day and anything could happen. I want these guys to come out here and compete. Henderson, Joe, Fedde, they all understand that and they all know that."

If Hellickson opens the season in the rotation as expected, what does that mean for the others? Despite speculation one of the young right-handers could be kept as a long reliever, Martinez suggested that's not a likely solution.

"I'd rather see them go down in Triple-A and get some innings in, build up some innings, get some confidence going. And then when we need them they're ready, they're available," the manager said. "That's not to say we won't do something different. But I would rather see them go down there and get their starts in, build their innings up."