Matt Williams and Ian Desmond on another rest day for shortstop (updated, Desmond starts)

Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond is out of the lineup for a second game in a row as manager Matt Williams wants him to take a "mental rest."

Since June 9, Desmond has gone 4-for-36 (.111) with 16 strikeouts.

"It's rest, it's clear," Williams said. "It's good work, it's all of those things. It's important for him to get back to where he wants to be, and if a couple of days does that, and at the end of the year he'll look back and go, 'Yeah, maybe that was good.' It's never easy to take him out of the lineup, but for the long-term health of our team and his season and his mentality, I think it's important. It's never easy, but a couple of days will be good for him."

Desmond can't just sit around though and completely rest.

"No, of course not," Williams said. "He came out for early grounders yesterday with the middle infielders, and then took more during batting practice, and then took his regular BP. You can't tell him no because they're grown men, they can do what they want. More than anything, hopefully it's just a mental rest to where the grind of the game doesn't have to happen that particular day."

Desmond weighed in on his slump and his manager's decision.

"I'm hitting .220, it's pretty hard to sit back and just trust that everything is going to be fine," Desmond said. "I do believe that I'm going to be fine. I do believe that I'm going to be fine, and my swing is gonna show up and everything's going to be alright. But I'm a worker, I come here every day and try to keep it as much blue collar as I can, if you're not performing you got to get better. I rested but at the same time I'm still trying to sharpen the tools."

Williams did say Desmond is available to pinch-hit today.

"He's available certainly to come get a big hit for us," Williams said. "Another day of relaxation for him will do him good."

Is it good for Desmond to have days off?

"Well, I'd rather have him in there," Williams said. "I mean the dude's won three straight Silver Sluggers, he's a pretty darn good player. But, as I said, it's important for him, for anybody, if things aren't going to well to take a break and reload and regroup and be ready to go again."

Desmond smiled when asked about not being in the lineup again.

"We won yesterday, I'm not saying I'm superstitious but run it back out there again, I'll take W's, I don't care," Desmond said. "I'm here for the Washington Nationals and I want to win games. As long as we are winning I'm fine.

"All I want to do is win games. I want us to be on top of this division. I've been part of this thing since the beginning. We have a team to take it all the way this year, and any aspect I'm willing to help the team do that."

Desmond was introspective when asked if he could understand that it might help him in the long run to rest for a couple of games. But he is not afraid of this challenge. Earlier this season, when asked about his fielding errors, he spoke about having this issue in the month of June during past seasons and then being able to break out of it.

"The rain always brings sun, and it's coming, just got to weather the storm," Desmond said.

"I have a long history of failures and successes going back to my first year in pro ball. I grinded my way here, and I'll grind my way back. Simple as that. I believe in myself. I don't need anything or anybody to tell me what I'm capable of. I know what I'm capable of and get it back."

As for his swing and those 16 strikeouts since June 9, will he adjust the swing because of his recent struggles? No, he said, at least not in a drastic measure. He has tried starting from scratch before, breaking it down and rebuilding his approach, and that backfired.

"I'm married to my swing," Desmond said. "It's not going to change. My swing is my swing. I'll make small adjustments. Five, 10 years ago I would have overhauled my swing. Those are the mistakes I made back then, I'm not going to venture down that road again. I believe in what I've done, and it's proved over the last few years that it does work. I don't see a need to change it."

Update: Yunel Escobar was scratched from Saturday's lineup due to a stomach bug. Desmond was placed back into the starting lineup at shortstop, batting seventh.