David Huzzard: Dusty Baker is already in charge

It is good to have baseball back. Of the conclusions that can be drawn from this young season, there are none aside from the fact that A.J. Pierzynski cannot catch baseballs. There was one little mentioned and almost unnoticed event. While everyone was distracted by Bryce Harper's hat, Jayson Werth batted in the bottom half of the Nationals lineup and didn't tear up the lineup card or complain to the media after the game. Dusty Baker has passed his most important test as manager. He has shown the ability to control Werth.

This might be seen as a small or insignificant event, but as Werth goes so does the Nationals clubhouse, and the story of Matt Williams losing the clubhouse centers around Werth - and it all began with Williams giving Jayson Werth too much control over himself in 2014. In Williams' first season as Nationals manager, Werth was given the choice to stick to right field or move to left, and he stuck with right and he decided that he should be the No. 3 batter as well. This created a number of confusing lineup decisions, as Williams wanted a left-handed hitter after a right-handed hitter, and treated Harper like a rookie instead of a three-year vet.

All this would come to a head when Williams tried to be in charge of the team by giving a struggling Werth the day off without telling him and Werth exploded. Contrast that to this season and Baker's beginning and he has already shown Werth who is in charge by batting him sixth. Whether there is a more important a more difficult decision coming with Werth has yet to be seen. Werth appears to be moving in slow motion on the bases and in the field, but he has a good batting eye and with a healthy shoulder and wrist should be able to hit better than 2015. There is the chance that age has caught up to him though, and Baker will have to move him into a reserve role.

It is hard to imagine Werth taking the news that he is a bench player well and it is hard for it to happen with Ben Revere on the disabled list. It remains to be seen how long that injury will last and if Michael A. Taylor can hit enough to make it worth the Nationals' time to even consider sitting Werth. Many forget that Werth was good in 2014 with a .849 OPS and was the best hitter on the Nationals in 2013. Werth isn't that far removed from being a productive player and his healthy shoulder and wrist could wind up being more of a positive than his increased age is a negative.

David Huzzard blogs about the Nationals at Citizens of Natstown. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidHuzzard. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our regular roster of writers.