Red-hot Senzel staying as DH for now with Lipscomb at third

ARLINGTON, Texas – Nick Senzel is on the kind of power streak most players only dream about. Trey Lipscomb has been red-hot since returning from Triple-A. So how do the Nationals keep both players in the lineup?

For now, the answer is to have Senzel serve as designated hitter while Lipscomb handles third base.

That’s the alignment again tonight for the Nats’ series opener against the Rangers, the fourth straight lineup card Davey Martinez has filled out with Lipscomb at third and Senzel as DH.

“It works out really well for us right now,” Martinez said. “Nick’s starting to swing the bat really well. Lipscomb’s playing really well both sides of the ball. So we’ll keep it like this for a while.”

Senzel, whose season debut was delayed by a fractured thumb suffered during pregame drills on Opening Day, enters tonight with five homers in his last six games. And he nearly hit another homer Monday night in Miami, the ball landing at the wall in deep left-center for a double.

After a sluggish start to his first year in D.C., the former first-round pick of the Reds has more than doubled his OPS from .450 to .943 during this hot streak. He’s never hit more than 14 homers in any season as a professional, majors or minors.

“He’s really staying back and staying through the baseball,” Martinez said. “We’re really just focusing on staying in the middle of the field, and he’s done that really well. I don’t want to put anything in his head that he’s a home run hitter. Just continue to do what he’s doing. And he’s swinging the bat well right now.”

Lipscomb, meanwhile, has performed better at the plate in his second big league stint than he did in his first, going 8-for-20 with a double, two walks and two strikeouts since his recall from Triple-A Rochester after Joey Gallo went on the injured list. Initially placed at first base to account for Gallo’s absence, the versatile rookie moved over to third base while Senzel was out a couple days with an illness. He has remained there since, starting five straight games now at the hot corner.

That may or may not remain the case in the longer term.

“Eventually, I’d like to get Nick back out there at third base,” Martinez said. “We’ll see what else we can do with Lip. But they’re both really swinging the bat well and helping us win games.”

* Josiah Gray is throwing from 120 feet on flat ground but has yet to pitch off a mound. The right-hander, out since April 15 with a forearm strain, has been doing some work on the bullpen mound to get comfortable again, but that hasn’t yet included throwing, the next big step in his rehab program.

* Robert Garcia (influenza) threw to live hitters Monday. The left-hander is scheduled to do it again when the team returns to D.C. later this week. After that, the club will decide if he needs to go on a short rehab assignment or if he’s ready to be activated off the IL.

* Jose A. Ferrer (teres major strain) is throwing from 60 feet for the first time since suffering his injury in spring training.

* Victor Robles (hamstring) began a rehab assignment with Rochester tonight and legged out a triple to right-center.