Baker has options with tweaked starting lineup

Barring unforeseen developments - which is always a great caveat - we now know who should be in the Nationals' starting lineup come opening day.

Bryce Harper, Adam Eaton and Jayson Werth are the outfielders. Anthony Rendon, Trea Turner, Daniel Murphy and Ryan Zimmerman go around the horn in the infield. Derek Norris is the new catcher, though with Jose Lobaton and Pedro Severino also under contract, that's the one starting position that's a little less set in stone.

We don't know, however, in what order those players will line up. The biggest dilemma Dusty Baker must figure out is how to bat Eaton near the top of his order without stacking too many left-handed bats in a row.

"We do know that it poses a problem for us with quality left-handers, with all three of them possibly being back-to-back-to-back, but that remains to be seen," Baker said. "Until I lay eyes on them and on a daily basis, we do have options to break 'em up. One thing is for sure: Murphy and Harper are going to be somewhere in the middle of that lineup. We will just have to determine where I put everybody else."

Eaton, with a .362 on-base percentage over the last three seasons and the speed both to leg out triples and steal bases, profiles as an ideal leadoff hitter. But the Nationals already have a guy who profiles as an even better leadoff hitter in Turner, whose speed may be unmatched in baseball right now.

But if Turner leads off and Eaton bats second in front of Murphy and Harper, Baker now is stuck with three left-handed hitters in succession, as he feared. And then nothing but right-handed hitters behind them: Rendon, Werth, Zimmerman and Norris.

It may seem unconventional, but perhaps the Nationals would consider moving Turner down a spot or two. As we learned this season, he hardly is a speed-only guy. His .567 slugging percentage was the sixth-highest among all major leaguers with at least 300 plate appearances this year. He has surprising power and the ability to drive in runs.

Could the Nationals actually consider batting him, say, third?

Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet. Whatever order Baker settles on, his message to every hitter on his roster is simple: When presented with an opportunity to drive a runner in, do everything possible to actually drive him in.

It was perhaps Baker's biggest complaint last season, and he wants to hammer the message home this season. But can players be taught how to perform better with runners in scoring position, or is the only way to improve acquiring new players who already have that skill?

"No, it can be taught," the manager said. "I think anything can be taught, if you trust the source it's coming from, and if you listen and then apply it. Almost everybody was taught something at some point in time in their careers. We didn't originate anything. ... There is no "How to Do" book in baseball. These things are passed down to somebody that you trust their knowledge and judgment.

"The game is very simple. He who touches home plate the most wins. And everybody hollers (about) on-base percentage, but you've got to have clutch men to drive in the guys once they get on base."

The Nationals hope they're assembling a lineup for 2017 that excels at that.