Martinez preaching patience at plate, better play in field

If you want a firsthand take on the perils of freaking out over April offensive numbers, look no farther than Davey Martinez, whose own career was a textbook example of the disparity many big leaguers face between early season stats and rest-of-the-season stats.

"You don't want to look up my April," the Nationals manager said. "They were awful."

Martinez wasn't kidding. During a career that spanned 16 big league seasons and concluded with a .276 batting average, .341 on-base percentage and .730 OPS, he never could get himself off to a strong start. Martinez's career April batting average: .250, more than 20 points worse than any other month. His April OPS: .669, more than 40 points worse than any other month.

So as he looks up and down the Nats' lineup right now and sees four regulars sporting batting averages of .200 or worse and an OPS of .600 or worse, Martinez can't help but remain positive about the long-term picture.

"You hear it all the time: It's a marathon," he said. "Some guys are generally slow starters. I know that. These guys have been around for a long time. They know what they need to do. I don't panic. These guys are going to hit. I know they're going to hit."

After a hot start to the season in Cincinnati and Atlanta, the Nationals as a team have gone cold at the plate. In their last eight games, they're scoring an average of only 2.5 runs, better only than the Brewers (2.25) in the majors during that span.

Martinez's message to slumping hitters like Ryan Zimmerman (.417 OPS), Trea Turner (.582 OPS) and Michael A. Taylor (.404 OPS) is a simple one: Don't stress out over your offensive woes, and definitely don't take them into the field with you.

"We constantly talk about the quick 27 outs (on defense)," the manager said. "Let's get a quick 27 outs, that's what we preach all the time. If you do that, you've got a good chance to win. Don't give the team an extra out or two outs, cause that's when you tend to put yourself in a hole. And they know that, we talk about that every single day. These little things. We're going to start hitting. But what I'd like is for them to come out every day and compete and run the bases hard and play good defense."

Martinez also sees signs of progress in some of those struggling hitters. Turner has been far more patient at the plate (nine walks in 59 plate appearances) than he ever has in his career. Zimmerman has produced several well-struck line drives in recent days that nonetheless were caught on the fly. Taylor showed the skipper something late in Thursday's game when he went the other way and singled to right.

"I like the at-bats," Martinez said. "The at-bats that I like to see is when we have runners in scoring position, obviously, and get that big hit."