Nats' formula of creating "havoc" coming to fruition with young speedsters

MIAMI – The Nationals came into this four-game series with the Marlins in search of some offense.

No, this team is not built to hit home runs, with their 26 longballs ranking 21st in the major leagues. They’re built to get on base, use their speed to advance by stealing or taking an extra base on a ball put in play, and then scoring with productive at-bats at the plate.

They have been very good at the first two parts of that formula (they are second in the majors with 48 stolen bases). But not so much with the third (bottom third in runs scored).

They began the weekend with their slash line with runners in scoring position ranking near the bottom of the majors and with their 60 RBIs with RISP last in the National League.

But they have found a good mixture of that formula through the first three games in South Beach, thanks in large part to CJ Abrams, Jesse Winker, Trey Lipscomb and Jacob Young.

Though it was Joey Meneses who delivered the go-ahead hit in the eighth inning of Friday’s victory, it was set up by the aforementioned guys at the top and bottom of the lineup. Lipscomb led off with a single and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Young. The Marlins intentionally walked Abrams before Winker hit an infield single to load the bases for Meneses.

In Saturday’s blowout win, the foursome of Abrams, Winker, Lipscomb and Young went a combined 8-for-17 with seven runs scored, six RBIs, two walks and two stolen bases.

Then in Sunday’s epic come-from-behind win, the four of them combined to go 8-for-19 with six runs scored, five RBIs, one walk and three stolen bases.

Put the three games together and they went 22-for-49 (.449) with 16 runs scored, 11 RBIs, five walks and five stolen bases.

The perfect culmination of the Nats’ offensive formula.

“It's absolutely what we need to do,” manager Davey Martienz. “And I talk about it all the time, the three constants, and one of them is running the bases correctly and being aggressive smartly. We did a good job.”

Overall, the Nats went 11-for-37 with runners in scoring position. That .297 average raised their mark with RISP from .222 to .233, now good for 12th in the NL.

Young in particular has been one of the best catalysts for this offensive resurgence. He’s now hitting .333 with a .375 on-base percentage and (knock on wood) a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts.

“That's pretty much my main job on this team is to find a way to get on base no matter if it's even by air,” Young said. “Any way possible just to get on base and create that havoc that Davey wants. With CJ hitting behind me and Wink, if we can get on base together, it gives those guys so much more opportunity to drive in runs and make things happen.”

Knock on wood again, because Young is also a perfect 23-for-23 in stolen base attempts to start his big league career, joining a list of elite basestealers and six away from the all-time mark.

“It's something I work really hard on,” he said. “The coaching staff, we talk about it a lot about different jumps and different pitchers. I know it's a big part of my game, so I take it very seriously. But it's something that just really matters the day, the pitcher and the catcher, and knowing who's going and kind of what jump I need. It's part of my game, so just trying to make it as big a part of it as I can.”

It’s a big part of his game also because of where he hits in the batting order. He’s hit ninth in 12 of his 20 games this season, providing Martinez with a secondary “leadoff” guy to flip the lineup.

“That nine hole is almost like a second leadoff for us, especially with the top of the order we got going on right now,” the manager said. “So he's done well there. And like I said, when he gets on base, good things happen.”

“That's the role I take it as a second leadoff for me,” Young said. “I'm just trying to find a way to get people on base for CJ and Wink and those other guys. That first at-bat for me, half the time it's, I am another leadoff, so it's just nice for me just to know that they just want me to get on base and create that havoc. I'm not trying to do too much down there. Just try to do my job and let everyone else kind of fall in behind.”

Abrams and Winker are the main beneficiaries of Young’s on-base and basestealing capabilities. And they’re enjoying watching the youngsters produce at the plate and on the basepaths.

“They make your job really easy because they're so fast,” said Winker, who essentially hits “behind” the other three after the first time through the order. “So you really just have to hit a ball forward and they're going to score. CJ, I could talk about him till tomorrow about everything he's done on both sides of the ball and how impressive he's been.

“The same thing goes for Jacob as well. What a player. And he's playing center field every day. He plays so hard. So hard. He plays so fast. He's one of my favorite players right now. Him and CJ, they're at the top of my list of favorite guys to watch. What a privilege I have to play alongside them. It's cool. It's a blessing.”

“Any baserunners are nice for sure,” Young said. “But when you have people that can also make things happen, which I think we have all the way throughout the lineup, on the basepaths is huge. It makes everyone's job a little easier. You probably only need a single or double to score. You don't need four straight hits or something like that. So I think it just kind of loosens everyone up knowing it's a little easier to score and easier to make things happen.”

It took a while, but Martinez’s vision for his offense is finally coming to fruition. Now it’s a matter of keeping it going over the next five months of the season.

“I really feel like we got to find other ways to do things,” Martinez said. “And having these guys, having them be athletic, letting them play the game, paying attention to detail, they've been really good. They've been really good at it. When they get on base, hey, they know they want to get second base. And I'm not I'm not going to hold them back. I told them we're going to pick spots where you guys can go and they're both aggressive. It's been fun to watch them, it really has. We're gonna push the envelope a little bit. It's just who we are. We created this identity where we're going to try to be aggressive. And right now they're doing well with it.”