Still with Nats, Norris is making the most of his playing time

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - There may be no player in the Nationals clubhouse, perhaps no player in any major league clubhouse this spring, in a position more awkward than the one Derek Norris finds himself in these days.

Norris was supposed to be the Nationals' starting catcher after the organization that drafted him way back in 2007 but traded him four years later and reacquired him in December via trade with the Padres. But then the Nats signed four-time All-Star Matt Wieters after camp opened, bumping Norris from his starting role, likely leading to his eventual trade somewhere else. Yet he's still getting more time in games than any other Nationals catcher while Wieters works his way into shape.

That's about as awkward as it gets in this sport.

To his credit, Norris is saying and doing all the right things. Most notably, he's performing quite well in the first week of Grapefruit League play.

With a towering solo homer yesterday in the first game ever played at The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches, Norris added to his growing spring stat line. He is batting .500 (3-for-6) with the homer and two RBIs, having recorded a hit in all three games he's played to date.

Norris' manager appreciates how the 28-year-old is handling a difficult situation.

"He's coming to play, and I'm going to play him, especially the fact that Wieters is going to need some time to get ready," Dusty Baker said. "You still have to play, no matter what. He told me: 'Hey man, I'll compete for the job.' And I said: 'Hey, that's the attitude you're supposed to have.' He's played as much as anybody else around here, and right now he's one of ours. So we just have to treat it as such."

There's no way to know how much longer Norris will remain with the Nationals. Certainly, his performance to date can't hurt his trade value. But until something happens, Baker plans to continue handling him like everyone else.

"You can never have too many good players," the manager said. "Something always happens. I've seen teams where you thought you had too many players, and then one thing happens after another and then you don't have enough players. So it's a situation where you'd rather have more than too few."