Williams on Turner, Barrett and Zimmerman

Shortstop Trea Turner made his Triple-A debut Friday night in a Syracuse 9-1 loss at Indianapolis.

He was called out on strikes, lined softly to right fielder, grounded into a force out at second base, scored on a Kevin Keyes single, grounded into another force out and got to third later in the inning. He finished 0-for-4 with a run scored.

Not a big deal, he went 0-for-4 to start his first of 10 days at Harrisburg. The next game he had three base hits. Amazingly, he had 25 multi-hit games in his first three months with San Antonio and the Senators.

Turner played only 68 games at Double-A, showing he could handle the level, and now the Nationals want to see what he can do at Triple-A.

In Philadelphia, Nationals manager Matt Williams was asked how much he is looking forward to managing the youngster someday in the majors.

"I know he's making the steps appropriate to his playing level," Williams said to reporters. "There was opportunity since Manny was here. Opportunity for him to get to the Triple-A level and play there. I know last night was his first game. So he needs to experience that level and experience that different feel of veteran players understanding what they can do and experience that and have success there. That's what we want."

Williams said they are not forcing Turner up a level because of need, but they are intrigued by his talent and want to see how he performs with multiple games at Triple-A.

"So there's no timetable on it," Williams said. "There's no feeling on when or where or how. I know that he's had a good season and he's making progress. His Double-A season was fantastic, and he's got an opportunity to go to Triple-A now and show us what he has there."

Further, and this is an important point, I have been assured the move of Turner has nothing to do with Ian Desmond's struggles or the veteran's contract status. This is all about seeing what Turner can do at Triple-A.

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Manager Matt Williams updated the progress of right-hander Aaron Barrett who is on the disabled list with a right biceps strain.

"He's throwing. He'll get to his bullpens," Williams told reporters. "He's gotta build a little bit. He's getting close to getting on a mound and letting her fly and seeing where he's at and then get out somewhere."

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Also, Williams said first baseman Ryan Zimmerman is hitting and working the treadmill back in D.C. as the team embarks on this road trip. Williams said plantar fasciitis is a tough injury to get back from because you are always on your feet, especially in intensive major league baseball games.

"Problem is when it's your foot, that's what you do," Williams explained to reporters. "You stand on your feet for three hours. So we have to get him to the point where that doesn't hurt and then we can start the lateral movement - the starting and stopping that always gives anybody with plantar fasciitis problems."

Williams said the foot injury is not putting as much of a burden on Zimmerman returning to the batting cage.

"The hitting part of it is OK," Williams said to reporters. "He can do that cause you don't put a whole lot of pressure on it. And then try to get him out and get him playing somewhere as quickly as he's able to."