Walters gets first career start at second base

CINCINNATI - On Wednesday, in his first at-bat back in the big leagues after taking the roster spot of the injured Ryan Zimmerman, Zach Walters dropped a pinch-hit single into center, extending the ninth inning and nearly leading to a Nationals comeback from a four-run deficit. Today, Walters is in the Nats' starting lineup, getting his first career big league start at second base. This is Walters' fourth career start overall, and they've come at four different positions - shortstop, third base, left field and second base. He had played minimal second base at the professional level prior to this season (11 games in 2011), but when the Nats last sent Walters down to Triple-A Syracuse toward the end of May, they wanted him to get a good bit of time at second to gain some experience there. He's played 27 games at second this season, with a .971 fielding percentage. Walters will hit eighth today against Reds starter Alfredo Simon. As a switch-hitter, Walters gives manager Matt Williams some pop from the left side of the plate against a right-hander. It'll be interesting to see whether this turns into somewhat of a platoon with Danny Espinosa, who also is a switch-hitter, but has posted much better numbers when hitting right-handed than left-handed. Tanner Roark gets the start for the Nats tonight. For the Nats CF Denard Span 3B Anthony Rendon RF Jayson Werth 1B Adam LaRoche SS Ian Desmond LF Bryce Harper C Wilson Ramos 2B Zach Walters RHP Tanner Roark For the Reds CF Billy Hamilton 2B Skip Schumaker 3B Todd Frazier LF Ryan Ludwick RF Jay Bruce C Devin Mesoraco 1B Brayan Pena SS Zack Cozart RHP Alfredo Simon