The crucial decisions of the Nationals’ rebuilding project begin right up the middle. Until Washington knows exactly what it has in Ian Desmond, 25, at shortstop and Danny Espinosa, 24, at second base, other pieces can’t be moved around. When do they give a shot to 22-year-old second baseman Steve Lombardozzi, who has had a fine season split between Double-A and Triple-A? Where does top draft pick Anthony Rendon best profile if he’s blocked by Ryan Zimmerman at third base? That roster construction starts with Desmond and Espinosa. Both had big days in Sunday’s 5-4 win over Philadelphia. Desmond (2-for-5) tied the game with a ninth-inning homer. Espinosa (3-for-5) hit a game-tying homer in the sixth.
But it has been a roller-coaster season for both. Desmond owns a .606 OPS and has a long way to go to salvage his season offensively. His strikeout rate has risen to 22.7 percent, and his walk rate isn’t high enough to compensate (5.9 percent). Espinosa, meanwhile, was in the National League rookie of the year race until a second-half slide. Sunday’s homer was his first since July 17. That was also the last time he drove in a run. Vulnerable to high fastballs, his strikeout rate is 23.7 percent.
“Those two guys up the middle are very talented. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people forget how young they are sometimes,” Zimmerman said. “It’s not easy to learn at this level, and they’re doing a great job with it. It’s hard to fail and learn. They want to do this as well as anyone else. But they’re grinding through it.”
Obviously, it’s not all bad. Desmond’s 20 errors are down from last year’s 34, and he has learned how to refine his aggressive approach in the field, according to manager Davey Johnson. Can he do the same at the plate? Espinosa’s power is there with 18 home runs, and the advanced defensive metrics rate him above average in the field. But competition is on the way soon, and in baseball time is always shorter than you would like.
– Brian McNally
