Martinez on Kieboom, Harris, Robles and World Series (Nats win 3-2)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - With observers focusing on every swing he takes and every grounder he fields at third base, Carter Kieboom is off today. He's getting a chance to reset and Nationals manager Davey Martinez continues to preach to the 22-year-old that he needs to relax.

Given an extended opportunity to replace the departed Anthony Rendon at third base, Kieboom has struggled this spring. He's hitting .083 (1-for-12) without an extra-base hit and has committed two errors at the hot corner. A generous scorer's decision in Jupiter saved him from a third.

Martinez has made a point of having "daily conversations" with Kieboom to ensure him that the Nationals believe in him.

"We're 15 or 20 at-bats in," Martinez said. "I mean, I don't base a lot of things on spring training. There's guys that hit .450 in spring training and are career .210 hitters. But I just want him to relax, have fun and play. I told him, I said, 'For me, you don't have to impress anybody here.' He's 22 years old, getting an opportunity to play in the big leagues already. I said, 'You're doing awesome, so just go out there and have fun.' "

Wednesday's scheduled off-day - the first of two in a week's span for the Nationals, who also have off Monday, March 9 - falls on Stephen Strasburg's day to pitch. Martinez said he would meet with Strasburg before deciding how to proceed.

Strasburg could just be bumped back a day and start Thursday night at home against the Cardinals, or he could come into the complex on the off-day, throw and be skipped through this turn.

Right-hander Daniel Hudson will pitch in a Grapefruit League game for this first time this afternoon against the Marlins. Martinez wants to get him in the game early, perhaps after starter Joe Ross, and expects Hudson to throw 20-25 pitches.

Righty Will Harris came through his flat-ground work Sunday without a hitch. Harris, who was scratched from his Thursday debut with the Nationals because of a left abdominal issue, threw yesterday from 75 feet.

"He felt good this morning," Martinez said. "Keep building him up throwing. ... I don't want to put a timetable on it, but maybe, hopefully this weekend, we can get him to throw a bullpen. But we'll see. He's going to lengthen his throwing and we'll go from there."

Center fielder Victor Robles is out of action for a fourth straight day while nursing soreness in his side. A precautionary MRI showed no serious injury and Robles has gradually ramped up baseball activity, through he's still considered day-to-day.

Martinez is eager to get him back in the batting order so Robles can continue his work on being selectively aggressive. Assuming he can master that goal, Martinez envisions opportunities in the top of the lineup.

Robles needs to find a way to combat pitchers who have been throwing him breaking balls away and fastballs in and getting him to chase bad pitches.

"We want him to accept his walks," Martinez said. "And we want him to be aggressive, but aggressive in the strike zone. We talked about that a lot. Just getting pitches he can hit. He hit it on the nose and then they were pounding him with a lot of breaking balls away. We just want him to not chase. He can hit it when the ball's in the strike zone. So we just want to get him swinging at more balls in the strike zone aggressively. Just stay aggressive, but know what you're good at and know ... your strike zone."

Martinez said that he would again consider batting Robles ninth, behind the starting pitcher, to give the Nationals a run of speedy hitters to set the table for the big bats in the middle of the order.

"We'll have options," the manager said. "I could maybe push him up against left-handed pitching. If he can show that he can command the strike zone, we can possibly put him up. It could be exciting to have him, (Adam) Eaton and Trea (Turner) up there to get us going."

While admittedly not a memorabilia collector, Martinez was able to secure the lineup card from the dugout after the Nationals' victory in Game 7 of the World Series. He's had copies made to distribute to players, coaches, front office members and support staff as a memento, and plans to frame the original for display in his offseason home.

"I wanted to make sure they all had something," he said.

The sweatshirt Martinez wore on Oct. 30 never made it back to D.C. for the celebratory parade or the visit to the White House.

"I was shocked when the guy from the Hall of Fame came in and asked me for my sweatshirt," Martinez said. "I wanted my sweatshirt, but they took it with some other stuff. And I got a certificate and I get in free. Thanks."

Update: The Nationals took a 1-0 lead in the first, loading the bases before Yadiel Hernandez's grounder to second plated a run.

Update II: Joe Ross turned in another impressive outing, working three scoreless innings against the Marlins in his second spring start. He allowed one hit (and picked that runner off), walked one (erased on a double play) and struck out two. Ross threw 43 pitches, 26 for strikes. Daniel Hudson is on to work the fourth, his first game appearance of the spring.

Update III: Adrián Sanchez turned on a 97 mph fastball from Edward Cabrera in the fifth, launching a solo homer to left to knot the score at 2-2.

Final Update: After the fourth inning and the two runs charged to Hudson, the Nats got one hitless inning each from Wander Suero, Javy Guerra, Fernando Abad, JB Shuck and Kevin Quackenbush. Emilio Bonifacio drove Brandon Snyder home from second for the game-winner with two outs following a botched safety squeeze in which Cody Wilson was tagged out while trying to advance from third base. The Nats prevail 3-2.