Robles on bench again as Martinez looks for best matchups

PITTSBURGH – Victor Robles is the Nationals’ starting center fielder. And he’ll continue to be their starting center fielder. As long the matchups on a particular day work in his favor.

For the third time in eight games to begin the season, the matchup isn’t in Robles’ favor. Pirates starter J.T. Brubaker has a particularly tough slider, so Davey Martinez decided to leave Robles on the bench tonight and instead play Dee Strange-Gordon in center field.

“We look at all his data, and we know Victor struggles against guys with good sliders,” Martinez said. “So tonight I felt like we’re just going to continue to work with him on his swing, get him some extra swings, and then get him back in there tomorrow. We’re looking at all this stuff.”

Robles, who has started five games so far, remains hitless in 15 at-bats. His only two productive plate appearances resulted in a sacrifice bunt and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch that resulted in his lone RBI of the season.

Hitting coach Darnell Coles has been working with Robles on mechanical changes to his swing since late in spring training. Coles wants him starting his hands in a better position to allow for quicker movement to the ball. It remains a work in progress, as the results to date show.

On the heels of an immensely disappointing 2021 season that saw him spend September at Triple-A Rochester, Robles faces increased scrutiny and pressure this year to re-establish himself as the team’s everyday center fielder. His defensive work so far has been praised, but it’s tough to ignore the 0-for-15 elephant in the room.

“He’s been positive, and we’ve been very positive with him as well,” Martinez said. “We work with him. Darnell’s been with him day in and day out. He is getting better. … In BP, there’s more hard-hit balls. When we watch him swing, he’s staying more on top of the baseball. We’ve just got to continue to work with him.”

Lane Thomas also is sitting tonight, with the hotter-hitting Yadiel Hernandez getting another start in left field. It makes for a less defensively gifted outfield alignment, but Martinez is both trying to play matchups and make sure everyone on his bench stays fresh.

At some point, though, isn’t it tempting to let Robles play against an opposing pitcher with a tough slider, seeing how he handles the situation?

“It’s going to be a little bit different this year, because I don’t want him to get beat up right away,” Martinez said. “Gradually, I want him to get comfortable with this swing, so that he does learn how to hit the slider and lay off sliders. With that being said, today is just another day where we felt Yadi and those guys had the best matchups. He’s going to get another day to work on his swings, and then we’ll get him back out there.”

Update: Strange-Gordon was a late scratch. Thomas is starting in center field.