Seeking offensive spark, Martinez trying out new look at top

Few right now would envy Davey Martinez, whose challenge to fill out a nightly lineup card is about as daunting as it's been at any point in his four seasons as Nationals manager.

Juan Soto is on the injured list. Josh Bell and Kyle Schwarber are slumping. And Anthony Rendon is in Anaheim (albeit injured himself).

So on the heels of a 6-0 loss to Jacob deGrom and the Mets - the Nats' fourth shutout loss in 17 games to begin the season - Martinez recognized he needed to try something different for this evening's game at Citi Field. The answer: more left-handed batters against Marcus Stroman and a surprising No. 2 hitter.

Josh Harrison, right-handed but one of the few consistently productive hitters on the team thus far, will be leading off for the first time this season. And he'll be followed by Yadiel Hernandez, the 33-year-old rookie outfielder with six hits in 36 career at-bats.

Despite missing the first six games while on the COVID-19 injury list, Harrison hasn't missed a beat following his torrid spring at the plate. He leads the team in batting average (.343), on-base percentage (.425) and OPS (.911), and until Tuesday he had yet to strike out in 2021.

"He's swinging the bat well, so we pushed him up in the lineup," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "He puts the ball in play. Hopefully we get him in the leadoff spot, he gets on for Yadi and those big guys behind him."

Harrison had already seen his spot in the lineup progressively rise, from seventh to sixth to fifth to second to first. Hernandez, on the other hand, is getting an opportunity to hold a premier spot in the batting order today despite his lack of significant big league playing time.

It's emblematic of the current state of the Nationals offense, but also of Martinez's growing faith in the seasoned rookie, who has always hit at every level he's played and flirted with a .500 batting average this spring.

"I really believe he's comfortable now; he feels like he belongs up here," Martinez said of Hernandez, who looked overwhelmed at times during his first big league call-up last September but wound up hitting a walk-off homer in the season's final week. "He's always ready to hit. And I also like the fact that he's running a lot better. He's playing the outfield a lot better. He's working really hard in the outfield. I want to give him an opportunity to get out there and play as well."

Of course, if the Nationals are going to have success at the plate today (or any day), they're going to need to get production from their most accomplished hitters.

Trea Turner, now the club's No. 3 hitter with Soto out, leads the team with four homers but has 17 strikeouts and only three walks. Bell, the cleanup hitter, is batting .147 with three RBIs and a .525 OPS. Schwarber, the No. 5 hitter, is batting .186 with two RBIs, 16 strikeouts and only two walks.

With each passing day, the pressure only grows on those stalwarts to snap out of their funk and start performing like they have in the past.

"I think we need to start scoring earlier in the games," Martinez said. "We've been scoring runs late. We need to start scoring runs early to take a little bit of pressure off our starting pitching, and see where that takes us. ...

"When you're playing from behind, or the game's 0-0 going into the fifth or sixth inning, things kind of change a little bit. Let's try to score a point or two early, and then go from there."