The Washington Nationals will have to shuffle around their batting order to offset the loss of Anthony Rendon, and one young star could be a beneficiary.
Nats manager Davey Martinez said on Saturday that he is considering moving outfielder Victor Robles to the No. 2 spot or even the leadoff spot.
“I’d like to see him move up, but we’ll see how it plays out,” said Martinez, per Jessica Camerato of MLB.com. “Right now, you’ve still got Trea Turner, you’ve still got Adam Eaton. Those two guys, for me, they get things going, one-two. Obviously we’re in search for a third hitter, but we’ve got options. We could mess around with that a little bit, so we’ll see what happens.”
The 22-year-old Robles got some run near the top of the order last season but mostly hit out of the bottom third of the lineup instead. He turned it into a .255/.326/.419 slash line with 17 homers and 65 RBIs in 155 games.
Robles’ potential appeared to make the Nats balk on some blockbuster trades this winter, and now it will be time to see if that was the right decision.
