Werth makes big plays on offense and defense, hamstring just fine

With Jayson Werth's past hamstring issues a concern, the Nationals and manager Dusty Baker want to be careful with how they work the veteran left fielder this early in the season.

During Wednesday's game in Miami, Werth left in the fifth inning with left hamstring tightness. He sat out Thursday's afternoon game and returned to the lineup for Friday's interleague matchup against the Twins.

All systems were go for Werth as he contributed a solo homer, two runs and three catches in left field in the Nationals' 8-4 victory over the Twins.

Werth's third homer of the season capped off the scoring in the fifth for the Nationals.

But most fans probably left Nationals Park buzzing about his athletic jump into the left field wall to catch a long fly ball, robbing Byron Buxton of a home run in the top of the third.

werth-murphy-high-five-blue-sidebar.png"He timed that homer like, you could tell he'd played basketball, he timed it like a rebound," said Baker. "That's why I always encourage kids to play other sports because they intertwine at some point in time.

"You're going to have to roll like in football and not hurt yourself or time the ball up on the wall like in basketball, and he was one of the premier athletes in the country, you could tell that he played other sports."

"I'm starting to feel real comfortable out there," Werth said. "Left field is so much different than right. It's tough to really get practice in left because in batting practice, not too many balls are hit out there. Most of the time, balls that are hit to left wind up in the seats in BP. So you don't really get a whole lot of looks.

"You've just got to get your timing and get comfortable during the game. I think I'm starting to get there. I feel confident. When I first came up, I played left. That was my position. I played it well. I feel like as the season goes on, I'll keep getting better and better out there."

Baker said Werth demonstrated with that catch, and a couple of other plays in left, that he can still play some good defense.

"His legs were underneath him tonight," Baker said. "He hit a big homer, so it looks like he's warming up, but we still got to watch him and pay attention. He's still got a couple little nagging injuries, but he's getting better."

Baker replaced Werth after the Nationals had built a commanding 8-1 lead. It wasn't because the veteran was hurting. It just might be standard operating procedure early in the season so Werth will be able to play games into late September and beyond.

"(The substitution was) more precaution because we had the lead, we got the early game tomorrow, day after night, so I thought it was best that we take him out of the game," Baker confirmed.

"My leg has been feeling good," Werth said. "I came out the other day with a little tightness. The trainers and the doctors are working hard trying to stay healthy and stay on the field. Dusty is doing a good job with all that, too. It's a long season and we've got a long way to go and I want to be a part of this thing."

Baker confirmed that he will give Daniel Murphy the day off Saturday. Murphy will start Sunday and then have the scheduled day off Monday. The second baseman is hitting .411.

"Murph has a game plan every night," Baker said. "And you can see him execute whether it's a right-hander or a left-hander, so Murph's played every game. So I think it's about time that we give him a day off tomorrow. Murph's more than earned his keep. He's done his thing big time, so I'm glad we have him."




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