Wood returns to lineup, Herz to follow Williams, García returns to clubhouse

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – After some initial confusion this morning, James Wood will return to the Nationals lineup as the designated hitter for this afternoon’s spring training game against the Astros.

Manager Davey Martinez said after Wood’s spring debut Friday that the towering outfielder would DH again today. But when the Nats lineup was initially submitted, it did not include Wood and instead had Josh Bell batting fourth as the designated hitter.

A brief moment of panic and concern was quickly quashed by Martinez in his pregame media session. The error was caused by the skipper’s habit of filling out lineups days in advance and not knowing Wood’s availability while doing so earlier this week.

There were no setbacks or anything of the sort. All is well.

“He's feeling good,” Martinez said of Wood, who has been dealing with right quad tendinitis. “Depending on how long the game goes, we'll hope to get him three at-bats again. Then we'll see how he's doing.”

Wood went 1-for-2 with a walk in three plate appearances Friday against the Mets in Port St. Lucie, an encouraging start to his Grapefruit League play. What’s the goal for this afternoon in West Palm Beach?

“Just good at-bats,” the manager said. “If he happens to get on base in the first inning or two, I'd like to see him run around a little bit today.”

The 22-year-old outfielder said Friday that he feels full-go on the basepaths. Despite reaching base twice two days ago, we didn’t get to see the long strides from the 6-foot-7 speedster. He was stranded after his two-out single in the third inning and then pinch-ran for by Yohandy Morales after his five-pitch walk in the fifth.

The Nationals don’t want him to hold back, but they are still being cautious with their young star as he eases back into game shape after his injury. Wood has only done little work in the outfield since camp opened and is scheduled to play defensive innings on the back fields at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on Tuesday.

“I told him, like I said before, I never tell anybody to back off,” Martinez said. “Just play the game. Let's see where you're at. Watching him and watching his antics out there will be a tall tale where he's at.”

* DJ Herz, the next in line in the Nats rotation, will have his next appearance bumped up today due to Monday’s true off-day. Nats camp will be closed tomorrow, with Martinez giving everyone some well-deserved rest, so no one would be around to help Herz throw.

The young left-hander is scheduled to pitch two innings against the Astros after Trevor Williams finishes his outing. The Nats can have relief pitchers throw on the back fields today, plus they had 10 relievers pitch across yesterday’s split-squad doubleheader.

“We will have Herz pitch because of the off-day tomorrow,” Martinez said. “He's going to back up Williams today. So he'll come in second and he'll get two innings.”

Herz gave up two runs, three hits and two walks with one strikeout Wednesday against the Astros. After recording two quick outs in the first, he issued a two-out walk to Isaac Paredes, a two-run homer to Yainer Diaz and then back-to-back singles. He returned to record two outs in the second and finished his day with 32 pitches, 20 strikes.

* Luis García Jr. was back in the Nationals clubhouse this morning after being a last-minute scratch before last night’s game against the Marlins with an illness. Martinez said the second baseman had a throat issue and a fever. There was no real update on how García was feeling as he was still getting ready to meet with the trainers and team doctors.

“I haven't talked to him yet because that, one, if he's sick, I don't want to get sick,” Martinez said. “But I'll find out from the trainers when he goes in. I think he's going to go see the doctor today. We'll see how he's feeling.”

García is 2-for-7 with a run scored, RBI, walk and strikeout in three games so far this spring.

Darren Baker replaced him at second base last night and Trey Lipscomb is manning the position today, although García was probably not scheduled to play this afternoon.