Eaton moved down in order, pairing Turner and Soto at top

Injuries, opt-outs and inconsistent performances have forced Davey Martinez to reconsider his batting order almost every day this season. Tonight, circumstances prompted the Nationals manager to make one of his biggest lineup changes to date.

Adam Eaton, who has batted second in each of the 25 games he's played so far this year, was bumped down to the sixth spot for tonight's series opener against the Red Sox. That move, which allows Juan Soto to move up to the No. 2 position, was made in part because of Eaton's recent improvement at the plate, Martinez insisted.

"I wanted to get some kind of production somewhere towards the middle, back end of our lineup," the Nats manager said from Boston during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "Adam's actually swinging the bat well. So I wanted to get him back there, get like a second rejuvenation of our lineup. Hopefully, he can get on. Hopefully, he can drive in some runs for us."

Eaton's season totals (a .240/.296/.390 offensive slash line) remain poor, but he has homered in two of his last three games. The challenge tonight, though, is that he's facing Red Sox left-hander Martín Pérez. Eaton is 2-for-25 versus lefties this season.

Whether the switch was made because Eaton is hitting well or not, the most significant domino effect of it is the repositioning of Soto near the top of the lineup, directly behind leadoff man Trea Turner. Soto enters the day batting .380 with a .476 on-base percentage, eight homers and a 1.279 OPS that would lead the National League if he qualified for the leaderboard. (He'll finally qualify with 3.1 plate appearances per team game played if he comes up to bat six times tonight or nine times over the next two nights.)

As many managers across baseball have begun using their best hitter in the two-hole, Martinez has remained somewhat reluctant to put Soto there. His usual rationale: He worries it discourages Turner to run, thinking if he steals second base the opposition will simply pitch around Soto and walk him.

Martinez said he's spoken with Turner about keeping a mindful approach to his basestealing when Soto is hitting behind him without completely taking away one of his most valuable skills.

"Trea's actually been smart about how to pick his spots, when to run with Juan hitting behind him," Martinez said. "And I told him: 'Don't lose your aggressiveness.' Yeah, we want Juan to swing the bat in certain situations, when we definitely want him to hit. (Turner) understands that. But also, if they walk him, we've still got some pretty good hitters behind Juan in Howie (Kendrick) and (Asdrúbal) Cabrera. I just want him to play his game."

Even with Eaton hitting behind him most nights this season, Turner hasn't been running all that much. Through 28 games, he has only three stolen bases on six attempts. That's only one attempt every 4.67 games, way down from his career rate of one per every 2.55 games.

"I think it's just circumstances," Martinez said. "We talk a lot about him just going and picking spots. He says he just hasn't gotten into that groove. We haven't been ahead in a lot of games. He's kind of trying to pick his spots. But I hope moving forward he doesn't change anything. And when he deems that he has a chance to steal a base, go ahead and steal it."