Could Martinez shake up the lineup over the last two weeks?

It ain't broke, don't fix it. A common phrase that Nationals manager Davey Martinez is taking to heart over the last month or so of the season as it pertains to his lineup.

Ever since Lane Thomas solidified his role in the leadoff spot on Aug. 28, Martinez's lineups have mostly looked like this:

CF Lane Thomas
SS Alcides Escobar
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
LF Yadiel Hernandez
3B Carter Kieboom
C Keibert Ruiz
2B Luis García
Pitcher's spot

Those top four spots haven't changed, essentially, and for good reason. Thomas is hitting .294 with a .378 on-base percentage since taking over the leadoff spot. Alcides Escobar is hitting .286 with a .320 on-base percentage in the No. 2 spot. Juan Soto is a possible National League MVP candidate as the No. 3 hitter and Josh Bell has hit 22 home runs with 63 RBIs out of the four hole.

The back end of the lineup hasn't changed much either. Aside from the catcher's spot rotating between Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams and rarely Alex Avila, only two small changes have been made recently: Ryan Zimmerman playing first base and bumping Bell to left field on Tuesday and Carter Kieboom vaulting Yadiel Hernandez for the fifth spot on Wednesday. Then there's Luis García usually batting eighth right in front of the pitcher.

Giving guys a breather here and there, of course, will result in small changes. But for the most part, this is Martinez's lineup.

Is there any thought to changing it over the last two weeks of the season?

"I like what we're doing right now in the lineup," Martinez said during a Zoom session with the media. "You want to try to move guys up. I thought about moving up, you know García can swing the bat, he swings the bat well. But there's a process with that. We're trying to get him to swing at strikes and take his walks. He really hasn't been able to do that. When they do throw balls in a strike zone, he's been hitting them pretty hard. But we got to get him in the strike zone. So I don't want to move him up and him start chasing balls all over the place. That's not what we're trying to do here. And Carter has done well whether he's at either five, six or seven. And I want to keep him there for now."

Is there any reason to make drastic lineup changes this late in the campaign?

"We're gonna finish out the year. There might be a time," Martinez said. "I thought about against left-handed (pitchers) maybe pushing them up. But you know, it's also not fair to Lane and Escobar, who have done really well up there. And having those two guys get on for Juan Soto. Remember Juan Soto, he is continuing to do what he does. And not only is he playing to help us win games, but statistically-wise, he's playing to win another batting title. And I would love for him to win that as well. So I want to leave things the status quo, and he's been doing well. Josh Bell has been doing well hitting behind him. So you know, we're scoring tons of runs with the way the lineup is, so I don't want to mess with that."

One could argue for moving guys like Kieboom, Ruiz and García up in the order to give them more at-bats over these last 15 games. Maybe they would get more opportunities in high-leverage situations. Put them in the thick of it and see what they can do.

"Yeah, you know right now, I'm comfortable with him batting up there," Martinez said of Kieboom specifically. "I don't want him all of a sudden getting five or six at-bats a game. Games go long. The other thing is that we're really trying to focus on teaching them how to drive or drive the ball the other way, especially with guys on base. A guy on third base, less than two outs, he's had some unfortunate luck where he has hit the ball hard. But we want him to be consistent."

That would help the long-term goal of developing young players. But if the short-term goal for Martinez this season remains winning games, the lineup is probably best left untouched.

The Nationals have scored five or more runs 28 times in the second half of the season. The offense is producing and it isn't the reason the team is losing so many games.

The top of the order shouldn't change and probably won't, outside of injuries or days off for those guys. It especially won't change with Soto chasing his second straight batting title and Bell approaching his second 30-homer season.

It's a real give-and-take situation. There's something to be said for giving young guys as many at-bats as possible, and in more vital situations. But the top four guys are driving an offense that has found success over the last month.

Is there a balance to be struck between confidence now and development for later?

"I think this guy could drive in 70, 80 runs for us every year," Martinez continued about Kieboom. "But we're trying to teach him how to do that. Especially learning with the infield back, less than two outs to send the ball on the right side of field, driving in a run. Looking for pitches, what pitches to hit where he can get the ball in the air with less than two outs with a guy on third base. Those free RBIs, as we like to call them, working for those and knowing how to do it. So I know him and (hitting coach Kevin Long) have been talking about it, they've been working on it. So we want to see them continue to get better at it."