Baker and Drew on an ideal bench: Nats appear to have all the elements

Stephen Drew and Clint Robinson are starting tonight. Drew is essentially subbing for second baseman Daniel Murphy, who is out with a hamstring problem, and Robinson for first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who is on the disabled list with a rib cage strain.

Both Drew and Robinson have done quite well for a bench that has been strong since the beginning of the season.

Drew has seven homers and 16 RBIs, while Robinson has added five homers and 19 RBIs. Chris Heisey, Jose Lobaton, Trea Turner and Michael A. Taylor round out the current version of the talented Nationals bench.

"We got a great team," Drew said. "You got to have a deep bench because freak injuries happen and somebody's got to plug in there. I think we've done very well in the first half, and hopefully we can just keep it up in the second half and see what happens."

Manager Dusty Baker was asked to look back to March, when the Nationals were putting together their bench within the constraints of the 25-man roster. He talked about what an ideal bench would look like.

"You try to have right, left, some speed, some power, some defense in case you got to have a three-run homer to get back in a game or (within) reach of a game," Baker said. "You want the option of a right-handed hitter, left-handed hitter. You want some contact people. You want some people that can play defense.

"You just don't want to carry a bat unless it's a heck of a bat. But you want a guy that can play possibly more than one position or at least one position in the infield or more than one position in the outfield. You try to cover yourself in as many areas as you possibly can that are going to come up during the course of a season.

"You got left-handers that can hit left-handers, like in the case of big Clint. Or right-handers that can hit right-handers and left-handers in the case of like Heisey. Or Heisey can play all three. So you try to cover yourself to combat the opposing manager in many ways that you can. You can't cover everything."

Drew said the makeup of this bench is exactly what you want on a team. The bench players can easily be placed in the starting lineup for whatever reason and the team does not miss a beat.

"The guys match well here, we got a good clubhouse," Drew said. "We got a great team. Everybody knows their role. I think that's a key part. When you kind of have a role defined and everyone kind of gets in their element. We got a good mix of veteran guys, some medium guys and younger guys. I have been a part of good teams with that mix and actually done very well."

Drew has talked earlier about how it takes a while to switch your mindset when you are so used to being a starter. He played 124 games for the Red Sox in 2013 and 131 games with the Yankees last season. So this season he has leaned on guys like Robinson and Heisey, who have played as utility players for extensive periods of time.

Robinson said Friday that he was ready to start after Murphy was a late scratch with a hamstring issue because he prepares the same way for each game - as if he was going to start.

"I wasn't afraid to ask questions and still kind of getting adjusted to it," Drew said. "I know my role, which is good. It definitely was a big adjustment not playing every day. The difference is coming in here and being a leader in the clubhouse. I see things I can talk to people about (that) I'm able to do more of. There are benefits. Like I said, this team's great. Hopefully, we just keep it going.

"The guys we got here on the bench are really good. It's fun to be a part of. It's a new role. Just asking guys like Clint and Heisey, they've been there and done it so take as much as I can in, but I also got a lot of experience understanding playing everyday and what it takes."

Baker said the best bench he ever faced was when he was managing the Giants and had to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

"I hated facing that bench," Baker said. "They got good hitters who could hit the ball out of the ball park."