Ben Revere looking to rack up RBIs for Bryce Harper and crew

Before Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo acquired outfielder Ben Revere in a trade with the Blue Jays for reliever Drew Storen on Friday night, the main offensive question skipper Dusty Baker faced was who to place at the top of his batting order. Revere's arrival in Washington solves that issue.

"He's hit at the top of the lineup each stage of his career," Rizzo said. "He's got a propensity to steal you a base in big situations and he's the type of leadoff hitter that is very tough to pitch against. He fouls off a lot of pitches and has really good at-bats."

Revere has mainly found himself as the table-setter during his five-plus seasons in the majors with the Twins, Phillies and Blue Jays. He's slashed .292/.324/.341 in 402 games slotted first in the lineup over that time and posted a career-best .342 on-base percentage last season.

"I'm a line drive hitter," Revere said. "I may hit one or two home runs, who knows? I usually leave that to the big boys. You can get doubles, triples. ... Cool. Singles, that's great. Your stolen bases are your doubles and triples. Just use that to your advantage."

The speedy Revere has 176 stolen bases over the past five seasons, including 49 in 2014, the fourth-most in the majors. He doesn't walk much, though, taking just 118 free passes in his career. Bryce Harper walked 124 times in 2015 alone. But Revere, who has hit better than.300 the last three years, also doesn't strike out at a high rate. He whiffed only 64 times in 634 plate appearances last season.

The 27-year-old Revere replaces Denard Span - who signed a three-year deal with the Giants - as the Nationals' leadoff hitter and center fielder. The two were teammates in Minnesota from 2010 to 2012 and Revere refers to Span as a big brother.

"I will say that I have large shoes to fill," Revere said. "He definitely helped me grow up as a baseball player."

Revere indicated that he's spent a lot of time this offseason improving his bunting. Any way possible that he can get on base for Harper and company, Revere sees as the primary focus.

"I know when I get over there I'll be like, 'I'm just trying to get you a lot of RBIs so you can win back-to-back MVPs,'" Revere said when asked about Harper. "Him and (Jayson) Werth, they are both great hitters. They can hit the ball each and every way out of the park. They will make my job easier. All I need to do is get in scoring position and mainly just get on base. If it's a base hit, walk or error, it doesn't matter. Just get on and get in scoring position. Let those guys go to work. You get a ball in the gap and nine out of 10 times I'm going to score. Them and (Ryan) Zimmerman and some of those guys, it's just whatever I gotta do to help them get their RBIs, that's all I'm going to do."

Notes: Pitchers and catchers are due to report to Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., on Feb. 18 and will take the field for the first time on Feb. 20. The Nationals' first full squad spring training workout is scheduled for Feb. 25.

Former Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty has accepted the same role with the Single-A Lake County Captains in the Indians organization.