WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals signed Amed Rosario this winter to be their utility infielder. The veteran figures to get starts at second base if Davey Martinez wants to give Luis Garcia Jr. the day off, third base if Martinez wants to give Paul DeJong the day off and perhaps even shortstop if Martinez wants to give CJ Abrams the day off.

Martinez also likes that Rosario can play the outfield, something he did 26 times last season for the Rays and Reds. Which is why he had him starting in left field Tuesday night for the Nats’ exhibition game against the Astros.

“Some of these guys, I want to see them play multiple positions, in case in-game something does happen, we know he can do it,” Martinez said. “I don’t want to spring it on him. When we signed him, we talked to him about playing multiple positions. This is just part of getting him out there in spring before we leave, and getting him accustomed to playing some left field.”

With James Wood, Jacob Young and Dylan Crews unlikely to get many days off, and with Alex Call already more than capable of filling in for any of them, there probably won’t be much need for Rosario to appear in the outfield this season.

But the Nationals always want to make sure they’re covered just in case. And they wouldn’t want to throw Rosario to the wolves with no practice, so they figured it was worth it to give him at least one start in left this spring.

It’s not the kind of major splash everyone’s been waiting for, but the Nationals have signed a couple of free agents in recent days who could pitch their way onto the roster in 2025.

The Nats signed left-hander Konnor Pilkington and right-hander Clay Helvey to minor league contracts with invitations to spring training, adding a pair of pitchers who will compete for jobs in big league camp.

Pilkington, 27, has some major league experience, appearing in 16 games (11 of those starts) for the Guardians in 2022-23 with decent results. He sports a 3.75 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 60 innings, though he also walked 33 batters while compiling a 1.450 WHIP.

Originally a third-round pick of the White Sox in 2018 out of Mississippi State, Pilkington was traded three years later to Cleveland for a name familiar to Nationals fans: César Hernández (who played in D.C. in 2022). The Diamondbacks then purchased him in May 2023, and he spent the majority of the last two seasons at Triple-A Reno, going 3-5 with a 5.91 ERA, 1.764 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings in 2024.

Pilkington, whose fastball averages 92-93 mph, has mostly run into trouble when he can’t throw strikes. He has averaged 4.6 walks per nine innings throughout his minor league career.