Washington Nationals: Three Takeaways From Opening Day
By Drew Douglas
Turner, Eaton Form Dynamic Duo
After a long offseason of attempting to guess the opening day batting order, our answer finally arrived. Dusty Baker‘s opening day lineup featured Trea Turner leading off and Adam Eaton batting second. I was obviously very pleased with this decision.
Turner and Eaton ended up forming a dynamic duo at the top of the lineup and wreaked havoc for the Marlins pitching staff. In the first inning, Turner doubled and Eaton walked, creating an immediate run scoring opportunity. The Nats weren’t able to take advantage of this situation, but we’ll get into that later.
Turner had a good day at the plate, going 1-for-4. It doesn’t show in the box score, but he got unlucky a few times. Turner scorched a few balls that just couldn’t quite fall in for hits. He easily could’ve ended up with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Eaton also had a great day at the plate, reaching base in three out of his four at bats. Eaton walked twice, despite not having a single walk during all of Spring Training. His hit was a double crushed into right field, but he was then stranded at second base (you may be starting to notice a trend here).
The two table setters also combined for a double steal in the first inning, making Edinson Volquez‘s life as difficult as possible.
The main offseason question surrounding Turner, other than his spot in the batting order, was how he would handle the move back to shortstop. Judging from Opening Day, he will be just fine. Turner had a perfect day in the field with eight assists. Most of Turner’s plays were relatively routine thanks to his outstanding speed, but he did make one highlight reel play to rob Adeiny Hechavarria of a hit.
Turner and Eaton form arguably the best 1-2 combo in the league, and should absolutely remain at the top of the order.