In a pinch, nobody's been better than Stevenson

When Ryan Zimmerman drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth Friday night, Nationals manager Davey Martinez immediately sent Andrew Stevenson out to pinch-run for the veteran. And wouldn't you know it, but minutes later Stevenson was racing around the bases and ultimately colliding with Mets catcher Chance Sisco en route to scoring the game-tying run.

So when Zimmerman drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the eighth Monday afternoon, all eyes turned to the home dugout to see if Stevenson would again emerge to replace his senior teammate. He would not, for reasons Martinez would later explain.

"We talked about pinch-running him in the eighth, and I didn't want to do that," the manager said in his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "I wanted to save him. I thought he'd have an opportunity to hit against (Edwin) Díaz, and it worked out well."

Sure enough, by the time the bottom of the ninth arrived and the Nationals found themselves with runners on first and second with one out against the Mets closer, here was Stevenson's opportunity. Not to pinch-run, but to pinch-hit.

And when he laced Díaz's 0-2 slider to right field for the single that tied the game and set the stage for Carter Kieboom's subsequent walk-off single, Stevenson had himself yet another big moment late in a game off the bench.

"The first two pitches, I'm just trying to drive something," he said. "And then once I'm down with two strikes, I'm not as aggressive, just trying to back some things up. I was able to see his slider better and put a good swing on it. Good things happen when you put it in play."

And good things happen when Stevenson gets a chance to pinch-hit. In fact, nobody in baseball has been better at it than the 27-year-old backup outfielder with the early 90s mullet.

Stevenson's single off Díaz raised his season batting average as a pinch-hitter to .371 (13-for-35). It's tops among all major leaguers with at least 25 pinch-hitting plate appearances.

And it's not like this is some new development in 2021. Go back over the last three seasons, and Stevenson's pinch-hitting numbers are even more eye-popping: a .411 batting average (23-for-56), .484 on-base percentage, 607 slugging percentage and 1.091 OPS.

How off-the-charts good is that? Well, consider that the league average offensive slash line for pinch-hitters since 2019 is .215/.307/.365 and you start to realize just how special Stevenson has been in the role.

How does he thrive in those high-pressure situations?

"I try to just mellow out," he said. "The bigger spots, the way I kind of look at it is: The pitcher's in more of a jam than I am, for the most part. In that situation, it's to my advantage. So I shouldn't be the one feeling the pressure here. It should be on the pitcher. That's something that's helped me."

Stevenson takes that mindset so seriously, he even applies it to his choice of walk-up song when he comes up to bat: "Amarillo Sky" by Jason Aldean, a country music tune that often leaves fans at Nationals Park singing along with the chorus.

"It's kind of a little slower, a little more relaxing," he said. "I think I'm at my best when I'm relaxed at the plate and going up there with a good plan."

Stevenson has proven plenty adept at staying relaxed when pinch-hitting, but he hasn't been able to apply that mindset when starting. In a strange twist, he's batting a paltry .178 (19-for-107) with a .457 OPS when in the Nats starting lineup this season.

Perhaps he hasn't taken full advantage of his opportunities to play more. But the Nationals are more than happy to keep using him off the bench, trusting him as much as anybody to deliver late against tough relievers.

Shoot, Stevenson delivered enough times over the weekend against the Mets to account for some players' season totals as a pinch-hitter. After scoring the tying run in the bottom of the ninth Friday night, he belted a game-tying homer with two outs in the seventh inning of Saturday's doubleheader opener. And then came another game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth Monday afternoon.

"You always think about being in the big leagues, producing in the big spots," he said. "To be able to do that with this group of guys, it's been really fun. And it's something I'll always definitely remember."