Latecomer Lind happy for shot at Nationals bench role

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - When the call finally came after a long offseason of waiting and wondering, Adam Lind was only too happy to join Nationals spring training with an opportunity to carve out a new niche as a productive bench player.

"To sign this late with this quality of a team, you couldn't ask for anything else," Lind said Friday. "I'm real excited to watch these guys play every day. I've had the opportunity to watch some really good hitters and I'll have that opportunity again this year. And pitching."

For most of his 11 major league seasons, Lind has been a reliable slugger, six times crushing 20 or more homers in the past eight years. But the Nationals already have a first baseman in Ryan Zimmerman, and Lind has no illusions of platooning with Zimmerman at first or regularly spelling Jayson Werth in left field, a position Lind last played for 16 games in 2010

"Ultimately, I think I'm the pinch-hitter," Lind said. "I think the organization would like those guys to play every day because they're pretty good players. Hopefully, I just do well if my name's called."

Lind, 33, was happy to learn that manager Dusty Baker keeps his entire 25-man roster engaged, rarely letting anyone languish on the bench for extended stretches. Last season in Seattle, Lind was a platoon player, sharing first base with Korean import Dae-ho Lee. So he'll learn to come off the bench on a regular basis and be ready to contribute when asked.

"I don't think it will be too challenging at the beginning," Lind said. "The last few years, I've been platooned, so I know what it's like to have days off and come off the bench. But if I only have like two or three starts somewhere at the end of June, then ... I might have to figure something out. But I don't think it'll be too big a problem at the beginning."

Last season, Lind hit 20 homers in 401 at-bats, 99 less ABs than he had during a 20-homer 2015 in Milwaukee, where he slashed .277/.360/.460 in his lone National League season. But his slash line dipped to .239/.286/.431 in his sole season in Seattle. That, and a glut of power bats on the open market, was reasons he was still without a job only days before spring training kicked off.

"It's a J-O-B. I mean, really. Didn't have too much to choose from, so it was nice that Mike (Rizzo) offered me the opportunity to help this team," he said. "No, I figured I'd sign somewhere at some point. Yeah, it was a little later than I wanted, but at least I didn't have any anxiety about leaving the family. I just got the call and the next day I came."

With Washington, Lind may have to relearn how to man the outfield. He joked that he'd shaved a few pounds from his stocky frame - he went from 230 lbs. to 218 lbs. at his Nationals physical - and noted that fly balls are sometimes more difficult to play in the infield.

"I've always thought pop-ups in the infield were a little harder because of the depth and the angle, you know?" Lind said. "There's more straight up; you don't have much depth in order to check it out. I struggled at the beginning when I was in the infield because the ball's just straight up and real high sometimes. Hopefully, my routes are good and my feet works good and my hips work well."