Young hitters still trying to earn prominent spots in lineup

The final 50 games of the Nationals' season are about evaluating young talent. Even more than that, they're about evaluating how young talent handles various situations.

Like seeing if some of the club's less experienced hitters can perform in prominent parts of the lineup.

We've already seen Victor Robles get an opportunity to bat leadoff again after spending most of the season at the bottom of manager Davey Martinez's batting order. The results have been mixed so far, but Robles did produce a quality at-bat leading off Tuesday night's game against the Mets when he fouled off four straight pitches before lining a single to left.

"I wanted to get him up there in the top of the lineup, just to see what he can do, maybe get some better pitches to hit," Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. "This guy is still a real big part of our future. I wanted to see him up there, I wanted to see what he can do. Who knows, if he can do well up there, he might end up being the leadoff hitter for us in the future."

Robles still has a long way to go to prove he can be a regular leadoff hitter in the major leagues, but he's at least getting the opportunity to do it right now. For teammates Carter Kieboom and Luis García, opportunities to bat high up in the lineup will have to wait a bit longer.

For the most part, Kieboom and García have been batting sixth, seventh or eighth since getting recalled from Triple-A Rochester following the Nationals' trade deadline sell-off. In an ideal world, the Nationals would like both infielders to prove worthy of a spot higher up in the order, but they still have work to do before earning it.

García hit leadoff for Rochester much of this season and wound up hitting .304 with a .379 on-base percentage and nine homers in only 27 games from up top. The Nats would love to see that kind of production from the 21-year-old at the highest level, but he hasn't yet shown an ability to consistently get on base in the majors.

"It's just about knowing the strike zone, what balls he's really good at hitting," Martinez said. "He needs to start accepting his walks. I know he can hit. He's got great bat-to-ball skills. But we want to see him accept his walks and not go up there swinging."

Martinez provided an example from a game last weekend in Atlanta when García worked his way to a 3-1 count but then swung at a pitch out of the zone.

"He got overly aggressive, which a lot of hitters do, and he swung at a bad pitch. We want him to take those pitches and work at getting on base," the manager said. "I think he can hit at the top of the order one day. But right now, we just want to get him comfortable, get him to continue to swing the bat the way he's been doing."

The Nationals view Kieboom less as a top-of-the-order hitter and more as someone who will be best served batting with runners on base. The 23-year-old still needs to prove he can do that consistently, but there have been some encouraging signs of late.

Over his last nine games entering Tuesday, Kieboom had seven RBIs.

"I think Kieboom is doing a lot better this time around," Martinez said. "He's a guy where I know he's being aggressive, but he's aggressive in the strike zone. I like him hitting in the middle of our order, and I think he's a guy that can potentially drive in runs for us."