When it comes to lineup combinations, Baker has options

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - When Dusty Baker's first lineup of the spring was posted yesterday morning, it was impossible not to immediately notice how the Nationals manager chose to align his top four hitters. The batting order: Trea Turner, Adam Eaton, Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper.

There's certainly nothing controversial about that order. It features perhaps the fastest player in baseball leading off, a high on-base percentage guy batting second, a guy who hit .347 last season batting third and one of the biggest power hitters in the sport batting cleanup.

Before you go and pencil that lineup into your opening day scorecard, though, Baker has some words of caution.

"Don't read anything into it," he said. "It's just I wanted to get certain guys at-bats early in the game."

Indeed, you have to be careful about putting much stock into lineups during these early days of spring training, where the goal is less about maximizing production and more about making sure everybody gets their at-bats before calling it a day after four or five innings.

But Baker does face some intriguing lineup questions this spring, and it all starts with who he chooses to bat in the first two slots.

The conventional wisdom is to go with Turner leading off and Eaton behind him. But there are downsides to that order, as well. It leaves three left-handed batters (Eaton, Murphy, Harper) stacked up, creating the potential for bad matchups late in games against lefty relievers.

It also pushes Jayson Werth down to the middle of the order, where he struggled last season. Werth was at his best when he moved up to the No. 2 spot, taking advantage of his ability to work the count and serve as more of a tablesetter than a run producer.

So even though a Turner-Eaton combo at the top seems the most logical choice, the prospect of Werth batting second is legitimate.

"It's already been considered," Baker said. "I don't know my (opening day) lineup today. But it's already been highly considered. Especially against a lefty. Nobody hits lefties better in the whole league almost than Jayson. We'll see."

If Werth bats second, either Turner or Eaton would have to move down in the lineup. Neither fits the prototypical mold of a middle-of-the-order batter, but as we saw last season, Turner is far more than a simple speed guy. And Eaton has emerging power despite his 5-foot-8 frame.

And we haven't even discussed how best to protect Harper, or how Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters fit into the picture.

Suffice it to say, Baker has plenty of options when it comes to making out his lineup card. The question is: Is this a good problem to have, or is it a challenge?

"It's not really a challenge," he said. "The challenge is not to have any hitters. That's the challenge. ...

"The bottom of the order is equally as important as the top because it rolls the top back around. So if you're strong at the top, and then the pitcher feels that he's getting a break until he gets back around at the top of the order, that's not what you want to do. Then you also want to put the opposing manager in a position where he'll have to decide whether he lets this lefty face this righty, or this righty face this lefty, because you've got a lefty coming up next.

"You try to do the best you can to get guys in a crossfire. Try not to put too many double-play guys together. You try not to put too many strikeout guys together. You try to have as balanced a lineup as you can to combat anything that they might do to you."