Plenty of firsts for Scherzer and Zimmerman, but not for Escobar

VIERA, Fla. - Nationals manager Matt Williams was pleased with what he saw from starter Max Scherzer in his first game action of the Grapefruit League season.

"Good velocity, pounded the strike zone," said Williams. "He got behind and gave up a homer. But other than that, he was good."

Williams had Scherzer on a two-inning, 45 pitch limit heading into tonight's game against the Mets. Scherzer completed the first two innings of the game in 29 pitches, 20 of which were strikes. He gave up two hits, one an infield dribbler and the other a deep home run off the bat of John Mayberry Jr.

Thursday night's game against the Mets, an eventual 5-4 Nationals win, was also the first time that Scherzer worked with catcher Wilson Ramos in a game.

"I've thrown bullpens to him, but until you're actually facing hitters, it's hard to get on the same page with him," said Scherzer. "We really won't get on the same page for a while. As a catcher, it's tough. I mean we got to figure each other out. He's going to have good ideas for me and I'm going to have good ideas for him as well."

Tanner Roark didn't fare so well on Thursday night. Roark took over at start of the top of the third inning and proceeded to give up three runs, including a towering two-run homer by Eric Campbell.

"Tanner didn't find his breaking ball today, first time out," Williams said. "But he said he felt great afterward, and that's all we're concerned about. A big-pitch inning for him. We planned on him going two, but we weren't going to send him back out there."

One of the big storylines so far has been how well Ryan Zimmerman will adjust to his new position at first base. He was tested early by bad throws, once in the first from shortstop Ian Desmond and in the second inning from third baseman Anthony Rendon. Zimmerman converted both out by effortlessly scooping the short-hopped throws.

"He had a couple balls in the dirt and he picked them clean," said Williams. "He's still in the stages of having to think about it out there, because it's not natural yet. So there's the constant question: 'OK, remind me: When the ball goes here, I got to go there?' That type of stuff is still happening. But the more he plays, the more accustomed he'll get to it. He looked fine. He's got fantastic hands."

The former Gold Glove third baseman has only played 18 innings at first base in the majors. Williams has been working with Zimmerman every day after practice. The Nationals manager played some at first base during his career despite primarily starring across the diamond as a third baseman during his 17-year career in the majors.

Zimmerman was excited to actually play in a game after going through so many drills and fundamental exercises to acclimate himself to first base.

"It's definitely a footwork position," said Zimmerman. "You don't have many throws. A lot of the ground balls you have, you're either taking on your own or flipping to the pitcher. So a lot of it is just becoming familiar with where the bag is and, like you said, footwork. So that's the biggest thing I've been working on. You can always get better at that. So we'll have drills and stuff I can do for the rest of my career I would think."

Zimmerman is also learning how to receive the ball from his infielders in actual game situations.

"It helps," he said. "Everyone throws the ball different. The more that I can get obviously the better and the more comfortable I'll feel."

One of those infielders, Yunel Escobar, was a late scratch for tonight's game with what the team called "general soreness."

"His back's sore," said Williams. "It's probably natural for that to be the case at this point. Just lots of different turns and things like that. Rather than take a chance at this point, just make sure we give him some extra time to work that out. We'll see how he is tomorrow."

It was due to be Escobar's first game in a Nationals uniform since being traded to Washington in mid-January. Escobar, like Zimmerman, has been taking a lot of extra work after team practices to learn second base. The eight-year veteran has only played 21 games in his career there, all in his 2007 rookie season.

Williams said Escobar made him aware of the soreness after pregame batting practice.

"He's been working really hard," said Williams. "He's been working extremely hard at getting accustomed to the position. But we'll see how he is tomorrow."