Zimmerman, Martinez and Corbin speak after 10-6 victory

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - It didn't take long for the ball to find first baseman Ryan Zimmerman after he took the field for his thrice-delayed debut in Grapefruit League play. In the first inning he was on the back end of a 5-4-3 double play and then snagged a throw from shortstop Carter Kieboom to end the inning. In the second, Patrick Corbin got three groundball outs, all ending in Zimmerman's mitt. On the final play of the frame, Zimmerman ranged to his right to snag a sharp Alex Kirilloff smash, then led Corbin with a perfect feed.

"It was good to be out there," he said. "It's always good to get back out there, get a few innings in, get everything started."

The delay in getting Zimmerman on the field was the biggest blip on the first week-plus of games. Just when he was ready to play, Zimmerman was felled by an illness and sent home. It took a couple of days for him to get his strength back and re-set.

Now he expects to play regularly.

"Just play like I've normally played," Zimmerman said. "When things are good and my body is good, I'm going to play pretty regularly. If something comes up and my body doesn't feel good, then I'm not going to play. That's kind of how we go. Two years ago, I played a good amount. That's what I want to do, that's what I hope. Hopefully, nothing comes up, but you know I think that's obviously the best case and what we plan on doing."

Manager Davey Martinez met with Zimmerman on Saturday and mapped out a plan for his playing time over the next week or two. For the time being, Zimmerman will play every other day - so Monday will be his next game action. With the Nats off Wednesday, he'll get the advantage of two days off consecutively.

"He was excited to play, so we'll see how he feels tomorrow," Martinez said.

Martinez is clearly taking a big-picture view with his first baseman.

"The biggest thing is to keep him healthy throughout spring training," the manager said. "Get his at-bats, but yet get him in the games. I talked about I want to see him play - ... move his feet around, play defense, run around the bases. Things of that nature."

For Zimmerman, spring is about feeling good as a springboard into the regular season, as opposed to a certain number of at-bats amassed or starts made.

"It's timing and it's more for getting your legs under you, getting into game shape, that kind of thing," he said. "I've had spring trainings where I've hit .100 something, had spring trainings where I hit .400 something; it has zero to do with the season. No matter what anyone thinks, it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Some guys like to get a lot of at-bats, some guys don't. If there was a direct correlation of success in the season, everyone would do the same thing.

Corbin was pleased with his three-inning outing, which included an unearned run on two hits allowed, a strikeout and 25 of his 36 pitches thrown for strikes.

"I think getting up a third time is always another step in the process, building up your pitch count. For the most part, felt pretty good. I felt on a couple of pitches I got quick and I was leaking towards home plate a little bit. What was good was I was able to crack that, throw an off-speed for a strike to get back in the count. So I was happy with that. But, yeah, thought I located pretty well today and just continue to build that pitch count up."

Eight of the nine outs he recorded came on ground balls, which Corbin said was a byproduct of him playing to his strengths and keeping his pitches down.

"Yeah, I try to keep the ball down in the zone and get ahead of it," he said. "When you get ahead, you throw quality strikes. You make them swing at some pitches down in the zone and try to get ground balls, for sure."

Facing a lineup populated with unfamiliar names meant keeping it simple.

"I think, especially early on, I'm just trying (to focus on) fastball command and my slider, my two things that I'm good at," Corbin said. "I try to make sure those are ready to go. Once I get those down, I'll probably start throwing some more changeups and maybe work on some other things like that.

"Today, I didn't know too many of the guys in their lineup, so you just try to work on what you're good at. I think as camp moves on and you start to see guys you'll face, you'll come up with game plans and kind of have a better idea of what you're trying to do. It was good to throw to (Kurt) Suzuki today, just have the opportunity to throw to both of our catchers. We'll just continue to build out relationship."

* Right-hander Justin Miller came out of his spring debut - two runs allowed on two hits and a walk over an inning - with a stiff back, the same issue that delayed his appearance. He will be re-evaluated.