Martinez on Zimmerman's workload (Nats lose 3-1)

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The calendar has turned to March and Ryan Zimmerman's line on the stat sheet is not full of zeros.

Zimmerman made his spring debut Thursday night and played first base again yesterday. Today, he's back in the lineup for his first back-to-back assignments of spring, a steppingstone that didn't bypass manager Davey Martinez like a car ignoring the speed limit on Interstate 95.

"I got Zim four at-bats in February," Martinez deadpanned this morning. "We got to look it up, but I would imagine (that's a record). He said yesterday, 'Hey, skip, you're playing me too much.' He looked good, though."

Zimmerman had a big swing in his first-inning at-bat against Cardinals starter Carlos Martínez yesterday in Jupiter. But what looked like a homer off the bat got caught up in the wind blowing from left field to right field and was transformed into a flyout. Zimmerman is 0-for-4 over two games.

All joking aside, Zimmerman is notoriously routine-oriented in spring training and has often preferred to get his work in on the back fields instead of during Grapefruit League games.

But with the Nationals flush at first base after a busy offseason, and needing to get the trio of Zimmerman, Howie Kendrick and Eric Thames game reps, Martinez is determined to spread the playing time around. In the end, the manager knows what he wants to get out of Zimmerman in camp.

"I would like to see him get around 40 at-bats," Martinez said.

Taking advantage of split-squad games and B games in spring makes that task easier. Once the Nationals get to the regular season, Martinez will be immersed in a juggling act, trying to maximize use of all three of the guys who can man first base.

Zimmerman and Kendrick can be streaky hitters, capable of carrying a team on their shoulders for a week or more. Left-handed hitting Thames is most dangerous against right-handed pitching, which is the reason the Nationals signed him as a free agent to complement the righty-swinging Zimmerman and Kendrick.

But Zimmerman is 35 and Kendrick is 36. Martinez doesn't want to wear down a veteran, though he admits he's likely to ride a hot stick if someone takes off.

So what's a realistic regular season workload for Zimmerman as he enters his 16th major league campaign?

"It's hard to say," Martinez said. "If he's healthy, if we can get him to play 100-110 games, I think that's a good number."

Several factors will come into play, the manager explained.

"We just got to look at the matchups and health," he said. "Really, with Howie, it's based on health. There are going to be days that they both play. Howie has to play second, give the other guys a day off and he'll play first. If Zim is healthy, he can hit. He goes on those stretches where he murders everybody. The biggest thing is keeping them both healthy and we'll go from there."

Workload management is something Martinez takes seriously. Effective communication will help him know when his veterans need a breather, but so will honesty - and neither Zimmerman nor Kendrick are the kind of players who put self before team.

"We have to plan on not playing those guys every day and see how much they can play, especially early in the season," Martinez said. "The weather might not be as good. Just keeping those guys fresh. ... The good thing is when you look down the bench in the seventh or eighth inning, you have a Howie, a Zim, a (Asdrúbal) Cabrera, a Thames that can pinch-hit. It's pretty nice."

* Reliever Will Harris, whose scheduled Thursday Grapefruit League debut was scrapped when he came up with an abdominal issue on the left side during an extended bullpen session, was scheduled to throw on flat ground today.

That's the first step in a progression to get Harris on the mound in an exhibition game.

"Try to get him up to about 75 feet and see how he feels," Martinez said. "He's progressing well, which is nice. Hopefully, if this goes well, we'll re-evaluate. He's itching to get back on the mound."

Even so, Martinez is comfortable taking a cautious approach with a workhorse reliever signed to a three-year, $24 million deal after pitching for the Astros against the Nats in the World Series in October.

"I told him with the extended year last year for you, we've got time," Martinez said.

Update: Aníbal Sánchez was touched for two runs in the first inning on a two-run double by Robinson Canó, but those were the only runs he allowed in three frames. Sánchez allowed four hits, walked two and struck out three. He threw 49 pitches, 29 for strikes.

Michael Conforto homered off reliever David Hernandez in the sixth for a 3-0 lead.

Update II: Welington Castillo lofted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth to get the Nats on the board.

Update III: The Nats were able to draw back-to-back walks to start the ninth, but were unable to push across any runs in the final frame for a 3-1 loss to the Mets.