Despite his rough start, Martinez sees Taylor building on at-bats

Nationals center fielder Michael A. Taylor has yet to get into a nice groove early in 2018, but he showed some signs of consistency in a couple of at-bats in Sunday night's 6-5 loss to the Mets.

After starting the game 0-for-2, Taylor singled in the fifth and then added an RBI single in the seventh that tied the game at 5-5. Unfortunately, he struck out in the ninth with the bases loaded and one out. The pitches that got him off of Mets reliever Seth Lugo were a slider, a curveball and then a four-seam fastball.

"It was a big moment," said manager Davey Martinez. "The previous at-bat, he had a great at-bat. And that at-bat didn't quite work out the way he wanted it to, but I liked him in that moment.

"Forget about what he did last year. To me, he's a premier young player and he's going to get more moments like that. And he'll come through a lot more. What I like is that he's aggressive. And you want to be aggressive in those situations."

Taylor is batting .167 through nine games. In 30 at-at bats, he has struck out 11 times and has five base hits, all singles.

Is the slider a pitch that is causing him problems?

"He needs to be in the strike zone, Martinez said. "I know him and (hitting coach) Kevin Long are working on that: staying in the strike zone. When he gets a pitch that he can hit, he puts a good swing on it. Typically, he'll hit it hard.

"He's working diligently every day to kind of the get the ball up where he can hit it. Sometimes it ain't going to work out, we all know. But he's working hard on it and he's going to get better at it."

Last year, Taylor hit two homers and had eight RBIs in the Nationals League Division Series. For the season, he slashed .271/.320/.486, all career highs.

* Martinez said A.J. Cole could get into tonight's game if starter Max Scherzer cannot go long. After using six relievers yesterday, Martinez said he would have no qualms putting Cole in if the need arises.

"It is a possibility," Martinez said. "We got to have guys available. I haven't assessed where everybody is at yet. The guys are going to throw out. They said they're good. I'm a little skeptical about using some of these guys. But they're all telling me they are good to go. We'll see what happens."

* Adam Eaton's day off tonight was scheduled. He has played in eight games and slashed .345/.424/.655 coming off a season in which he missed five months due to knee surgery.

"This was planned, yes," Martinez said. "He played almost two games yesterday so just wanted to give him a blow. He'll be back in there tomorrow."

* Martinez he has never seen a pitcher like Scherzer prepare the way he does for each game. Martinez watched as Scherzer studied last week for his start against the Braves in Atlanta. Then he said even with all that intel, Scherzer went back and studied video again this time, working from the Braves lineup in their last four games leading up to today's rematch.

So what is more impressive when watching Scherzer get ready, his preparation or his execution of his plan during the start?

"I love his execution," Martinez said. "I really do. He goes out there and he wants to strike everybody out. That's the mentality that he has. Nobody should get a hit off me. That's how he approaches it every day."