Coming into 2013, most Nats fans were thinking the lineup would always be “the rubber stamp lineup” of:

1. Span
2. Werth
3. Harper
4. Zimmerman
5. LaRoche
6. Desmond
7. Espinosa
8. Ramos/Suzuki
9.

But, the Nats have been struck by injuries to Ramos, Zimmerman, Werth, and others. And, of course, Adam LaRoche started off the year in a major slump going 0-for-26 for most of April.  The Nats ended April at just about .500, with a bunch of sad losses.  (I guess people thought the Nats were going 162-0 this season!)

Because of this drought, Nats manager Davey Johnson has tried strategic ways to find wins. He has shaken up the lineup, trying out both Desi and Espi in the 2 hole.  He gave both Werth and Desmond the chance to bat cleanup and Desmond hit a home run in this role.  LaRoche has mainly stayed in the 5th hole, but there was a game he dropped a little lower in the order.
 
After the unexpected Friday loss to the Pirates 3-1, Davey announced a really weird-looking lineup for Saturday:
1. Espinosa
2. Desmond
3. Harper
4. Zimmerman
5. LaRoche
6. Moore
7. Ramos
8. Bernadina
9. Strasburg.

This is the first time the catcher has batted higher than  8th.  It’s also the first time Espinosa led off, but that’s because Span was out with a foot injury.  Danny Espinosa is just not a lead-off guy, and Desmond isn’t really either because he likes to swing at the first pitch.

 That’s way different then the Opening Day lineup!

Here are more examples of the unusual line-ups Davey has used:

April 28
1. Span
2. Espinosa
3. Harper
4. Werth
5. Desmond
6. LaRoche
7. Rendon
8. Suzuki
9. Detwiler

After Davey’s Saturday pep-talk and the win that followed, what will we see for Sunday’s game and when they return to Nats Park after their day off to face the Tigers on Tuesday.  Nats vs. Tigers could be a preview of the World Series.  Would Davey go with something other than the “rubber stamp lineup” for this series???

TODAY’S GAME AT PNC PARK IN PITTSBURGH

GIO GONZALEZ VS. WANDY RODRIGUEZ
1:35 PM
 
NEXT NATS GAME AT NATS PARK

TIGERS @ NATS

ANIBAL SANCHEZ VS. JORDAN ZIMMERMANN

A MARQUEE MATCHUP! 

Let other baseball fans know about my blog (www.mattsbats.com) and Twitter (@MattsBats).  I write almost every day about baseball, and especially the Washington Nationals.  I love getting new followers and RTs.  If you want to receive an email whenever there is a new post you can SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Categories: Uncategorized