Williams wastes little time reintroducing Zimmerman to first base (with camp photos)

VIERA, Fla. - Ryan Zimmerman has traded his third baseman's glove for a first baseman's mitt - and last season's crash course at a new position for more intensive hands-on instruction.

Though Nationals position players aren't required to be in camp until tomorrow, Zimmerman arrived at Space Coast Stadium just before 8 a.m. this morning. About 90 minutes later, even before pitchers and catchers headed over to their scheduled workouts, Zimmerman trotted out to first base to reacquaint himself with his new - well, newer - assignment.

With Adam LaRoche departed as a free agent, Zimmerman is the Nats first baseman for 2015. He spent about a half-hour this morning working on footwork and positioning with manager Matt Williams, hitting coach Rick Schu, defensive coordinator Mark Weidemaier and assistant athletic trainer Steve Gober.

"It's a process," said Williams. "He's new to the position - he's played it some, but not a lot. He did a lot of work last year at the position, but the game reps are not really there for him. So as part of his initial introduction into this spring, we're just going over the basics of footwork, of positions, of his thoughts of where he'd like to play, what he can and can't do, what he feels comfortable with. So that was just a little bit of the introduction this morning. It'll happen every day."

Williams knows the position, having played first base for 13 games in 1996. But the 106 innings he amassed there are far more than the 18 innings over five games that Zimmerman logged last season. The plan in 2014 was for Zimmerman to get comfortable enough at first to spell LaRoche against tough left-handers, but a spate of injuries - a sore throwing shoulder, a broken thumb and a severe right hamstring injury - forced the Nationals to adjust. Zimmerman ended up playing more games in left field (30) than he did at third base (23) and never got extended time at first.

Schu also played some first base during his nine seasons in the majors and Weidemaier has served as a minor league infield coordinator for the Yankees, as well as scouting and signing future major league first basemen Paul Sorrento and Herbert Perry.

As he did last spring, Williams said Zimmerman's athleticism will aid in the transition across the diamond.

"Infield is infield is infield," the manager explained. "It's the opposite side of the diamond, but he'll adapt to that really quickly. For me, the thing that's going to be something he has to think about is being the cutoff guy when the ball goes to center field because he's never done it. When the ball goes to right field, making sure that he's on all of the tandem relay stuff. But we'll get a chance to go through that in spring training and help. Get a chance to walk through it, then live through it, then game through it. He'll be fine."

Monday morning's lesson had Zimmerman working on positioning on plays where he has to feed a ball from the hole behind the bag to a pitcher covering first and focusing on his footwork around the bag. While much of the instruction may have been designed to help Zimmerman find his comfort zone, Williams was quite demonstrative on several occasional, gesturing to emphasize how he wants Zimmerman to position himself in certain situations.

Williams said Zimmerman quickly recalled some of the finer points of the position gleaned from their sessions last spring. But Williams intends to ramp up the instruction over the next six weeks, something that couldn't be accomplished when Zimmerman was hurt or when he needed to replace the injured Bryce Harper in the outfield upon returning from the disabled list from the thumb injury.

"He's a fantastic athlete," Williams said. "The game comes naturally to him. The question is getting used to it. That other side of the diamond is a challenge, but he's meeting it head on. I anticipate he'll be just fine."

With LaRoche gone and a bevy of outfielders in camp, Williams said he doubted Zimmerman would get any outfield reps.

"Right now, he's going to play first, concentrating on that and working hard to do it," Williams said.

Zimmerman departed Space Coast Stadium before position players worked out around noon, so he will likely address his reintroduction to first base tomorrow.

Here are some photos from today's optional workout by position players:

Third baseman Anthony Rendon warms up in the outfield with a few throws.

Emmanuel Burriss, a Washington D.C., native hoping to stick as a reserve infielder, makes a throw from shortstop during infield practice.

Ian Stewart fires from third base while Anthony Rendon and Matt Skole await their turns.