Nats finding ways to score runs despite ever-changing lineup

NEW YORK – That the Nationals keep winning is remarkable enough. That they keep doing it despite fielding some patchwork lineups in recent days is all the more stunning.

Consider the group Davey Martinez put out there Thursday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. With Stone Garrett on his way back to Washington with a fractured left fibula, and with Keibert Ruiz scratched because he felt lightheaded after taking a foul tip off his catcher’s mask the previous night, the Nats lineup didn’t exactly stand out on paper.

After the typical 1-2-3 trio of CJ Abrams, Lane Thomas and Joey Meneses, they had a 4-5-6 of Dominic Smith, Carter Kieboom and Ildemaro Vargas. Then a 7-8-9 of Riley Adams, Jake Alu and Alex Call. Not exactly the Bronx Bombers there.

Yet look at the end result and try to find fault with it. The Nationals scored six runs on nine hits, getting back-to-back homers from Call and Abrams in the top of the seventh and clutch hits from Kieboom and Alu.

This is how things have been going for a while now, though. Even when they lose productive hitters, the Nats keep finding ways to produce at the plate.

The Aug. 1 trade of Jeimer Candelario figured to have a significant, negative impact on the lineup. But while the Nationals surely miss their popular third baseman and No. 3 hitter, they’ve actually become more potent offensively without him.

In 107 games through the end of July, the team scored an average of 4.3 runs on 8.9 hits, homering less than once per game. In 21 games since, it has scored an average of 4.8 runs despite falling to 8.6 hits but increasing its home run rate to 1.14 per game.

Abrams and Ruiz have played a big role in that. So did Garrett before he got hurt Wednesday night.

But the contributions are coming from a variety of other sources as well. Alu has 10 RBIs in 17 games since returning from Triple-A Rochester, a 95-RBI pace over an entire season. Adams is batting .345 with nine doubles, a homer and 10 RBIs over his last 15 games. And Kieboom, seemingly an afterthought prior to this week, is 3-for-7 with a double and a homer in his first two major league games in two years.

Whether the Nationals can keep any of this up is anyone’s guess. They are sorely lacking in proven hitters right now, especially in the outfield, and may need to address that soon.

Garrett’s injury leaves only three full-time outfielders on the current active roster: Lane Thomas, Blake Rutherford and Call. Martinez decided to use Alu (a natural infielder) as his starting left fielder Thursday. And he speculated he may put Meneses out there at some point as well.

Ultimately, though, the Nationals are going to face a fascinating dilemma: Would they call up one of their top outfield prospects now to take on an everyday role sooner than anyone intended?

Dylan Crews and James Wood are currently playing at Double-A Harrisburg, Crews having just arrived this week following two dominant weeks at low Single-A Fredericksburg. Each is a top-10 prospect in baseball. Each profiles to become a star in due time. But is either ready for that kind of promotion?

A general manager never wants to promote a top prospect out of necessity on the big league roster. Mike Rizzo only wants to promote players like Crews and Wood when they’re clearly ready to make the leap.

But the thought has got to be awfully tempting right now.

“We’ve got a lot of moving parts,” Martinez said Thursday. “We’ve got guys who can play multiple positions. We might try some different things. For right now, let’s try to get through today. I’ll speak to Riz after the game, and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do next.”

You’d think the next move would be to add another true outfielder to the major league roster. Then again, look at how well the Nationals have performed with the players currently on that roster.

They may not have name recognition or extensive track records. But at the moment, they’re getting the job done.