Rapid Reaction: Washington Nationals Win In Milwaukee And It Felt Great
Jun 2, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa (8) leads off first base during the second inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in game one of a double header at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Danny Espinosa Plays First Base
Danny Espinosa was called upon to play first base today to keep his bat in the lineup. This was the first start for Espinosa at this position in his career. He played just fine over there. He didn’t make any mistakes and made a nice pick on a short throw from Yunel Escobar during the eighth inning to get an important out in the game
Espinosa has played two new positions in the last several weeks. He played a little left field late in the game on June 7 against the Cubs for the first time in his career. Now, he can add playing first base to his list of positions.
Espinosa has now played every infield position and left field. He could probably play right field and center field in a pinch if he was ever asked. If pitching coach Steve McCatty starts dragging him around for bullpen sessions, don’t be surprised.
The use of Espinosa at first base smells like a panic move. The offense has not been bad in the last two games. The team scored five runs in the first game of the Brewers series and four runs yesterday. If this team had been scoring four and five runs a game in April, everyone would have been rejoicing. The fact that they lost the first two games of the Brewers series was because of bad starting pitching, not lack of offense.
Putting Espinosa at first while Ryan Zimmerman is on the disabled list is not good for the long term health of this team. It is well known that Tyler Moore hits better when he is getting regular at-bats and Clint Robinson could use some regular at-bats as well. If you are going to rely on those two guys off the bench to actually get hits in pinch-hitting situation, then they need more at-bats than they are getting.
Moore really needed this opportunity to play three to five games a week to get his bat going. If Espinosa keeps getting the starts at first base, that will not happen.
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