Haphazard schedule throws wrench into Baker's plans

The baseball schedule is a funny thing. The Nationals barely have been playing because of scheduled off-days and unscheduled rainouts, having taken the field only 12 times in the last 21 days. Now, though, they're looking at a grueling stretch in which they're scheduled to play 35 games in 36 days.

With that in mind, manager Dusty Baker is trying to make plans to give many of his regulars a day off at some point in the next week. It begins today, with Ryan Zimmerman not in the lineup for the first time in 2016. Clint Robinson gets the start at first base in his place.

"I don't want my guys not in the game, or not playing very much," Baker said of his reserves. "That's why I gave Zim today off. Because Zim's been running a lot. It's cold. I wanted Big Boy to get some at-bats."

Zimmerman, who dealt with plantar fasciitis in his left foot throughout most of the 2015 season, has been quite active on the bases and in the field to date, winding up on base nine times in 14 plate appearances.

Robinson, meanwhile, has only two pinch-hit at-bats so far, with a flyout and a strikeout on his batting register. Much as he'd like to get more consistent plate appearances, he understands the situation and tries to prepare for it.

"I knew coming in that I wasn't going to get to play a lot if all these guys stay healthy," Robinson said. "It's just accepting your role and going into it with a good mindset. Get your work in the cage. For me, I can't really say how much the timing thing will affect me because it's so early in the season. I know the first two times I've been up there, I know I haven't had the results I wanted to, but I felt good. I felt like I was ready to compete. I wasn't like, 'Ugh, I haven't swung in hours.' I actually felt like I was ready to go, not that it was the eighth inning, six hours after BP. So it's just about going into it with a good mindset and going into it knowing your role."

The haphazard schedule at the end of spring training and into the first week of the season also has thrown a wrench into the Nationals' pitching plan. Saturday's rainout pushed Joe Ross' season debut back to this afternoon and Max Scherzer's second start to Monday against the Braves. That means Gio Gonzalez now won't make his 2016 debut until Tuesday night, a full 16 days removed from his final spring training appearance.

The challenge now, though, will be making sure the entire pitching staff gets enough work without getting overworked for this upcoming stretch of near-daily baseball.

"You don't want to get upside-down, but you don't want to throw your starter too many innings," Baker said. "This is a real tenuous kind of situation for our team, especially for our pitching staff."

Note: The results of Ben Revere's MRI confirmed the Nationals' initial diagnosis of a strained oblique. Though the center fielder is eligible to come off the disabled list on April 20, the club is being careful not to assume anything yet about his recovery time.

"These things, you don't have any timetable on it," Baker said. "We're treating it aggressively, daily, and just hoping it'll heal soon."