ATLANTA – Looking for anything new to spark the Nationals offense, manager Davey Martinez has shuffled his lineup a bit for the third of a four-game set against the Braves.
With the Braves starting right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver (2.76 ERA) for tomorrow’s noon getaway game, Martinez decided to get Keibert Ruiz off his feet today to play tomorrow and start Riley Adams behind the plate tonight against right-hander Bryce Elder (4.97 ERA).
Also, Amed Rosario has been bumped up to the No. 2 spot to split up leadoff hitter CJ Abrams and slugger James Wood and combat the two lefty relievers the Braves have in Aaron Bummer and Dylan Lee.
“We got a 12 o'clock game tomorrow,” Martinez explained during his pregame media session. “So Riley gets tonight, Keibert gets tomorrow. He's available to pinch-hit if we need him. Moved Rosario between the lefties. They have two good left-handed pitchers in the bullpen, so trying to break those lefties up. But yeah, trying to get everybody in there with the early day game tomorrow.”
Adams has been productive in limited playing time, collecting hits in five of his last six games including two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs.
And Rosario may be a good selection to hit ahead of Wood so he and Abrams can get on base ahead of the Nats’ home run leader. The veteran infielder has hit safely in seven of his last nine games, with two doubles, a home run, seven RBIs and a walk over his last five.
Some may wonder why Martinez decided to play Rosario at third base and move José Tena over to second, when the younger infielder has played so well at the hot corner. And the questions persisted with each making misplaying crucial balls at their respective positions during last night’s loss.
With Luis García Jr. on the paternity list, the Nats need Tena’s speed at second base, while relying on Rosario’s experience at third.
“I think Tena moves a little bit better over there,” Martinez said. “He's played the middle of the infield for many, many years. And Rosario has played third base over the past year or so. So we chose to do it that way.”
Martinez is also confident Tena learned his lesson from last night’s mistake with the way he responded afterwards.
“He was actually really good about it,” Martinez said. “He said, 'I tried to do too much. I should have just focused on just getting an out.' And I said, 'Perfect. As long as you know what happened.’ Just next time, you know the situation, all we need is an out right there.”
* Travis Sykora, the Nats' No. 1 prospect, was reinstated from the 7-day injured list at Single-A Fredericksburg after rehabbing from offseason hip surgery and made his 2025 Carolina League debut in the first game of the FredNats' doubleheader tonight at Delmarva.
The former third-round pick completed three scoreless innings with one hit, two walks, four strikeouts and a hit-batter on 42 pitches, 27 strikes. Three of his four strikeouts came on his slider. And his fastball was sitting 96-97 mph.
Luke Dickerson, the Nats' second-round pick out of high school last year and No. 6 prospect, was promoted to Single-A Fredericksburg and also made his Single-A debut today.
In his first taste of affiliate ball since being selected No. 44 overall, the shortstop started the night with two doubles with an RBI in his first two at-bats.