Williams on Zimmerman's status, Walters at second

The Nationals get back to work after the off-day, starting a brutal stretch where they play 17 straight days and 33 of 34. And they'll have to go through at least a good chunk of that without third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who went on the disabled list with a hamstring injury on Wednesday. Manager Matt Williams had nothing new about the timetable for Zimmerman's return before Friday's series opener at the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. "It's really early. His plan right now is just to rest and not do anything," Williams said. "You pull those muscles, they've got to just kind of try to (calm it) down a little bit. So for the next week or so, it's just going to be nothing that he really can do, really. Even if you start digging in there, somebody starts massaging it, it doesn't allow it to heal as well as it should. So he'll just be shut down for a while to let it calm down. ... "(The doctors will) keep a close eye on him. We're not going to start messing with it or any of that stuff yet. He's just got to let it calm down and start to heal." Williams said the severity of Zimmerman's strain is not yet known. "They'll put a grade on it, but it doesn't matter at this point," Williams said. "He's (out) two weeks and then we'll reevaluate after that. But he did it pretty good. He pulled his hammy pretty good, so we'll have to see how he reacts to it. So I don't have a grade on it as of right now other than to know it's pretty sore." Zimmerman's absence created an opportunity for infielder Zach Walters to return to the majors, and he'll get his first starting assignment tonight at a new spot - second base. Walters makes his fourth career start, and does so at his fourth different position. Last year, he made one start at shortstop and one at third, and during his first stint with the Nats this year, he started in left. When sending Walters back to the minors at the end of May, the Nats wanted the 24-year-old to get some work at second so he could be an option there if needed. And tonight, Williams was ready to start him at second for the first time. "He felt more and more comfortable. You've got to play games out there, but the majority of the games that he played at Syracuse were at second base," Williams said. "So he's gotten accustomed to it. With Zim's loss, we're looking for a little bit of offense. He's been swinging well. In a small ballpark, you never know with him being able to drive the ball out of here. "He's going to get a start eventually, certainly, over there. With the outfield situation we've got now, there's not an opportunity out there potentially for him. (Anthony Rendon's) playing great at third base, and of course Desi (shortstop Ian Desmond). So the spot for him to get a start would be second base and this is as good a time as any since he's been playing all the time. So his timing will be good, so we'll see what we can do. But everybody reports that he feels comfortable out there and has been playing well." Walters has posted a .971 fielding percentage with four errors at second base with the Triple-A Chiefs this season. The majority of his minor league games before this season have come at shortstop, so Walters has had to get used to playing the opposite side of the infield. "It's backwards and you need time to do it," Williams said. "He's had roughly a month or so down there playing every day and getting his swing back and playing over there, and getting accustomed to balls and turning two and all of that. So it's backwards. Everything on the left side, you go to your left. Certainly on the right side, turning a double play, everything's to your right. So guys have to get used to doing that. But he's played well. He's done fine." It's possible that Walters could get a decent amount of work there if the Nats use some form of platoon with Danny Espinosa. Both Walters and Espinosa are switch-hitters. Espinosa has been much better against lefties (.274/.361/.466) than righties (.190/.249/.307) this year while Walters has done well against right-handers in the minors this season. Walters also has better numbers against southpaws (.339/.383/.589) than against righties (.287/.350/.613) in 2014. But if he can carry over his performance against right-handed pitchers, that could be a benefit to the Nats. Williams isn't sure if he'll give Walters more starts in those situations since Espinosa has struggled against righties. "We'll see. We'll see how it goes," Williams said. "Again, we're back in that situation now where we've got a guy down and we're gonna have to kind of mix and match from time to time. So tonight's as good a night as any. ... "(The Reds) only really got one lefty, and that's (Manny) Parra. The other guy's their closer, so if you get in that situation, you're at the end of your rope more times than not. So you're playing match-ups, yeah, maybe you potentially get Danny in there if we're ahead in a defensive role and give him an at-bat in that regard. But Zach's been swinging well and playing well at Triple-A, so tonight's as good a night as any." Seeing how Walters and Espinosa handle increased roles with Zimmerman out will help the club decide whether it needs to address the veteran third baseman's absence before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Williams was asked whether he feels the Nats need to acquire an infielder with Zimmerman out. "I don't know that that's entirely true. I don't know if that would be something that we have to do," Williams said. "You have to take into account many things if you're talking about that. One, who do you lose, what does it take, where does that person potentially fit on your team? I think that we need to win ballgames. I know that, and that's a function of all nine guys, not just one. "So losing Zim is a blow to us, but we have to pick it up. We've got to be able to play and win games and do things right regardless of whether there's a move made or not. So I know that Mike (Rizzo) is evaluating and potentially who could be out there. But he doesn't want to have to give up too much anyway because the guys that are on our team now have capability of playing and playing well."