Williams: Harper could play right with Werth shifting to left

SAN DIEGO - Last spring, the Nationals intended to give third baseman Ryan Zimmerman some reps at first base, the first steps in preparation for an eventual positional switch. Manager Matt Williams devised some interesting wordplay to cover the order in which Zimmerman, dealing with right shoulder soreness that had limited his availability two weeks before camp broke, would tackle those assignments.

"I want him to play third first - no pun intended - and then play first second," Williams said.

Get ready to revisit Williams' creativity with the English language - and his outfield alignment - after he said Tuesday that last year's regular right fielder, Jayson Werth, and starting left fielder, Bryce Harper, might swap positions in 2015.

"We have to take that into account ... who fits better (and) where on an everyday basis," Williams said during a half-hour session with reporters in the media workroom. "It's a question we ask ourselves all the time. I would imagine that Jayson would play some right and some left, depending on the day. And Harp would be the same."

For the 22-year-old Harper, who has played 351 games in three seasons in the majors, such a transition probably wouldn't be a big deal. He has moved all around the outfield in his brief tenure in the bigs, playing more games in left (194) than he has in center (108) or right (91). Most of his action in right came in his rookie season of 2012, when Werth was limited to 79 games because of injuries and Harper appeared in right field in 65 games. During that season, Harper only appeared in seven games in left and played the bulk of his time, 92 games, in center.

Because of his age and athleticism, right field might not be a big challenge for Harper. The Nats could use his superior arm in that position, too. Still, the Nationals might want to order some additional padding for the right field wall, given Harper's propensity to play the game with somewhat reckless abandon.

The 35-year-old Werth has played most of his career - 988 of his 1,219 games - in right field and it has been his primary position since 2002, when he was converted from catcher at Triple-A Syracuse, then the Blue Jays' top farm club.

Werth has played the other two outfield spots, too - he's logged 201 games in left and 134 in center. But since signing with the Nationals before the 2011 season, he's played only 30 games in anywhere other than field, and all of those have come in center field. He hasn't appeared in a game in left field since 2009, when he played there in three games for the Phillies.

But Williams seems confident that his outfielders can maneuvered without any damage to the defense.

"I think they play everywhere all the time, anyway," Williams said. "Look at Harp, there's days where he played center. Not many of them, because Denard (Span) played most of the time. But there were days. In that regard I think we can do some of that, yeah."

Williams also seems ready to have Harper shoulder more of the offensive load. With the departure of first baseman Adam LaRoche via free agency to the White Sox, the Nationals could use a left-handed power bat in the middle of the lineup.

"He could hit two, he could hit three, he could hit four," Williams said of Harper. "It depends on the structure of our team on any given day. If there's anything I learned from last year it's you can't count on a set lineup every day, because us you just don't know what's going to happen. That being said, I don't want to pigeonhole him at this point, early December, and say he's going to hit X, Y or Z. But he'll be in the middle of our order."

While general manager Mike Rizzo refused to comment Monday when asked whether switch-hitting infielder Danny Espinosa would transition to a full-time right-handed hitter to take advantage of favorable splits against left-handed pitching, Williams hinted that such a move could be addressed in spring training.

"(Espinosa) has to embrace it, for sure," Williams said. "So we all know his splits. His splits are really good right handed. Handles left handed pitching really well. You know, he did some really good things left handed, too. But right handed, certainly the splits are better than left. So we broached the subject with him. He worked on it in batting practice and will continue to work on it. We get to spring training where he can have some at bats that don't necessarily mean anything at that point and get a feel for it. We've got the ability to get him on the other side of the plate in minor league camp for extended at bats, which is important. So we'll continue that process with him."