Williams, Tarasco on Nats giving Walters first career start in outfield

In a perfect world, the Nationals would have Bryce Harper in left and Adam LaRoche at first tonight in Oakland. Instead, Zach Walters gets his first start of the season at a position he has never played in the major leagues, and only once patrolled in 465 minor league contests. Walters will man left field for the Nats tonight rather than shortstop or third base, where he has played exclusively in the majors over the last two seasons. "We just have a need, especially against Sonny (Gray) with left-handed hitting," manager Matt Williams said at O.co Coliseum. "Zach's got the ability to change the game with one swing. He's been working out there, he's played out there a little bit. He's OK as far as his comfort level out there. He provides us a switch-hitting opportunity and certainly power from the left side. So that's the reason why we went with him in left tonight." Walters, 24, has been getting plenty of pregame reps in the outfield over the last several weeks, but this will be his first shot when it counts, as a professional at least. It's not completely new to him, as Walters played center field his whole sophomore season at San Diego. Nats first base coach Tony Tarasco, who works with the team's outfielders, believes Walters has the skills to play the position well. "He's a wonderful athlete. He's ambitious about wanting the baseball," Tarasco said. "He's done a great job with all the work we've done. He's done a great job finding the extra work himself, making sure he shags in all three spots in the outfield. We've thrown the ball really well when we've thrown the baseball. So he's about as prepared as you can be without playing him. ... "When it comes down to running fly balls down and stuff like that, that's when your athleticism shows. We know that playing the outfield's more than just running around. My grandma can catch a fly ball. But she doesn't know what to do with it after she catches it. "So I think that's what's going to be the biggest part for him is mentally knowing where he's going to throw the baseball in what situations, when the game gets on the line keeping himself under control - all things that I think are attributes to Zach anyway. So it will be fun to watch him play out there today." Williams said the Nationals started getting Walters work in the outfield to increase his versatility in case a need came up. "Yeah, you never know. You never know," Williams said. "That's why he works all over the infield. He works at first, he works at short and second of course, at third and in left because you never know what need there may be. It's not his everyday position, but he's been working out there and he's played there before. So tonight's the night." Williams agreed with Tarasco that Walters has the abilities necessary to play the outfield. "It's good. He's got a really good arm, he's got good speed, he covers ground," Williams said. "He hasn't been playing out there every day for the last five years, but he's got the ability to play. He moves around good, he catches balls fine out there. We look at Tanner (Roark), and when he's on, he's a groundball guy, and you would hope that there's not a whole lot of action out there. But they do have some lefties that go the other way, too, so he'll be ready." Williams also said Walters wasn't nervous about playing a new position in his first start of the year. "He's anxious to play. He's anxious to play wherever we ask him to play," Williams said. "Yeah, we've talked to him about the possibility of something like this. Again, it's not ideal for us to have to put Zach out there. But he does give us more left-handed at-bats tonight against a really tough pitcher." With LaRoche unavailable and both Harper and Ryan Zimmerman on the disabled list, the Nats are fielding a lineup that has Kevin Frandsen at first, Jayson Werth at designated hitter, Nate McLouth in right and Walters in left. It's not exactly how the team had it drawn up at the beginning of the season, but even without three key players, there are both talented and experienced options available to fill in - especially Frandsen, whose versatility Williams praised before the game. "Given our situation right now, it's ultimately important," Williams said. "We've had some injuries to our everyday guys. Certainly, not the lineup that we expected to be running out this time of the year, but it is what it is. "So the importance of having somebody like Kevin is ultimately golden to your team because he can play everywhere. He can play left, he can play the middle of the diamond, he can play third, he can certainly play first - he did that a lot last year in Philadelphia. The last couple of months, he played first exclusively. That's true utility right there, being able to go anywhere on the diamond and play, and play it effectively."