Pete Kerzel

Espinosa and Desmond hitting first and second for Nationals against Pirates

by Ben Goessling View Comments

We've seen a few different iterations of the Nationals' lineup this season, but the one I've been waiting for is the one we'll see for the first time today: Danny Espinosa leads off for Washington against Pittsburgh, with Ian Desmond hitting behind him in the No. 2 spot as Rick Ankiel gets his first day off this year.

Desmond hit .326 batting second last year, and he's stolen eight bases in eight attempts this year. Hitting him there today probably has as much to do with sitting Ankiel against a left-hander (Paul Maholm) as anything else. But once Ryan Zimmerman comes back, the Nationals will have to figure out the best regular look for their lineup. I've said in a few different formats I'd like to see them try Espinosa and Desmond at the top of the lineup; it gives them some speed, and with Werth hitting behind Desmond, it might be a good spot to get him going.

Here are the full lineups for both teams. I'm back in the DC area today, but I'll weigh in with a few thoughts from here:

Nationals:
Espinosa - 2B,
Desmond - SS
Werth - RF
LaRoche - 1B
Morse - LF
Ramos - C
Hairston - CF
Bixler - 3B
Lannan - P

Pirates:
McCutchen - CF
Tabata - LF
Diaz - RF
Walker - 2B
Pearce - 1B
Wood - 3B
Snyder - C
Cedeno - SS
Maholm - P

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